We hope that users of Facebook (as well as MySpace) express opposition to the new aggressive data collection and targeted marketing system. Facebook is supposed to be an community where you can express who you are, and friends freely communicate. But it’s being transformed into a zone where advertisers with the biggest budgets can harvest your data, take advantage of your network of friends, and deliver targeted marketing and branding commercials. Facebook’s new approach combines behavioral targeting with viral marketing. That system threatens everyone’s privacy. Facebook is thumbing its nose at its users as well. This forced data collection and `target to your profile and friend’s’ scheme is, claims Facebook’s “chief privacy officer” Chris Kelly, actually good for you. “We saw a real opportunity here to democratize advertising,” he said [via Online Media Daily. Sign-up required]. “People will not be able to opt out of these social ads or turn them off, at least for now, unless they stop revealing information about themselves on Facebook.†That’s according to Techcrunch, which blogged live from Facebook’s advertising event.
Is this a democratic form of expression, or a Kremlin like digital gulag?
Facebook’s users are viewed as merely grist for a big data mining mill designed to sell targeted ads. Here’s how Zuckerberg described the new approach to advertisers (also from the same Techcrunch story): “Let’s talk about targeting. With Facebook you will be able to select exactly the audience you want to reach, and we will only show your ads to them. We know exactly what gender someone is, what activities they are interested in. their location, country, city or town, interests, gender,†work history, political views…Advertisers can build their own Facebook pages and design them any way they like: “We have photos, videos, discussion boards, any Flash content you want to bring to your page, plus any application a third party developer has made.”
Zdnet reported that Facebook Ads will enable “businesses to connect with users and target advertising to the exact audiences they want…Facebook will provide metrics to its marketers that include activity, fan demographics and ad performance so businesses can adjust targeting and content.”
This is a real violation of trust. No one is saying Facebook can’t make money. But it needs to be be done in a way that respects the privacy and values of its members. The time to express displeasure is now.
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