Re:Facebook Lies
by kbenson on Tuesday October 03, 2017 @01:17PM
(#15394072)
> It's also not hidden at all, you can inspect the page and see the requests clearly
It's sort of a grey area. The average person doesn't know that the functionality for the buttons is loaded by Facebook, and thus they are requesting information from Facebook that exposes information about them on every page that has a like button. It's "not hidden" in the same way that a pervasive network of closed caption cameras at all the businesses you frequent being owned by one company and having access to all your interactions at all those companies. Sure, the camera is in plain sight, and if you went up to it you might see a tag that says owned and operated by Facebook if you looked, but the normal expectation is that each business would have their own recordings, not that one company would be compiling all your transactions together to track your habits and make a profile. It's not hidden per se, but it's definitely not obvious and not what is expected by the average person.
Actually, I'm wondering is someone could sue Facebook under existing stalking laws.[1]
It's sort of a grey area. The average person doesn't know that the functionality for the buttons is loaded by Facebook, and thus they are requesting information from Facebook that exposes information about them on every page that has a like button. It's "not hidden" in the same way that a pervasive network of closed caption cameras at all the businesses you frequent being owned by one company and having access to all your interactions at all those companies. Sure, the camera is in plain sight, and if you went up to it you might see a tag that says owned and operated by Facebook if you looked, but the normal expectation is that each business would have their own recordings, not that one company would be compiling all your transactions together to track your habits and make a profile. It's not hidden per se, but it's definitely not obvious and not what is expected by the average person.
Actually, I'm wondering is someone could sue Facebook under existing stalking laws.[1]
1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalking#United_States_2