Facebook Tracking Sparks Controversy, Engineering Director Reveals All

Since its rising popularity,
Facebook has often been the
target of concerns around online privacy. In the spirit of transparency, and undoubtedly in hopes of placating its critics, Facebook engineering director Arturo Bejar has recently shared what personal information the company retains with its tracking cookies, as reported by USA Today.
 
When logged in:
Facebook will keep a time-stamped list of the URLs visited and pair it with the user's name, e-mail address, list of friends, user preferences, IP address, screen resolution, operating system, and browser.
 
When logged out:
Everything except a user's name, list of friends, and preferences. Instead, it uses a unique alphanumeric number to track users like a cookie. Even though Facebook isn't tracking users' entire browsing history, there are a lot of sites out there with "Like" and "Share" buttons. Bejar mentioned that Facebook has the ability to link users' names to their logged-out browsing data, but they make a specific point not to do this.
 
Naturally, these facts stirred up some concern and debate, but Facebook has revealed its strategic rationale for tracking data. Security is one, as tracking logs helps Facebook pinpoint fake accounts. Enhanced user experience is another, along with increasingly targeted ads. Facebook revealed that it does not use tracking logs, but instead uses the profile information and "likes", as voluntarily disclosed by Facebook users, to display targeted ads.

Although this information sparked controversy for some, others see Bejar's revelation as a necessary move towards increased transparency around Facebook's data tracking practices. Even more broadly, it alludes to the conflicting pressures that Facebook continues to face as it navigates its way through the need for profitability amid industry controversy around online privacy.

Posted by Nicole Capelo at November 18, 2011 5:00 PM

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