MoveOn: Facebook Is Ruining Christmas

Is there really such a thing as too much information when it comes to the Internet?

MoveOn.org seems to think so. The advocacy group on Tuesday launched a campaign against Facebook's Beacon advertising program, calling the effort an invasion of privacy and claiming that the social networking site makes it too difficult to opt out of Beacon.

Companies that sign up with Beacon basically notify Facebook every time a member purchases something from their Web sites. In most cases, that information will show up in a member's "mini-feed" of activity unless the user takes step to opt out of the notification.

Beacon currently has 44 participants, including Fandango, eBay, LiveJournal, and Blockbuster.

The ease with which your personal information is shared with Facebook appears to be at the discretion of the participating advertiser. Movie-ticket purchases from Fandango, for example, are automatically sent to Facebook unless you check a blink-and-you-miss-it "No Thanks" box at the bottom right of the purchase confirmation page. Blogging site LiveJournal, however, requires that users opt-in before any information is forwarded to Facebook.







MoveOn has started an anti-Facebook group on Facebook, which includes a petition calling on Facebook to stop sharing information with advertisers.

"A lot of us love Facebook--but they need to take privacy seriously," MoveOn said.

Facebook fired back, saying that MoveOn "misrepresents how Facebook Beacon works. Information is shared with a small selection of a user's trusted network of friends, not publicly on the Web or with all Facebook users," according to a Facebook statement.

I can see how Beacon could wreak havoc. Forget to click that box on Fandango? Now everyone you went to high school with knows you succumbed to Seinfeld's media blitz and shelled out $11.75 to see "Bee Movie." Leaving town on a secret rendezvous? Make sure Travelocity doesn't notify 178 of your closest acquaintances. Did you really just buy a rhinestone-encrusted denim jacket from BlueFly.com? Yes, you did. Thanks, Facebook!

However, I don't know how seriously I can take a campaign that includes a press release e-mail with the phrase "Facebook is ruining Christmas!" Santa's elves are crying big crocodile tears, I'm sure.

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