Face Book can go F*** off!

[DejaVu]

I kept trying to post this story on FB but it wouldn't let me. Not surprised FB would rather members don't know how they are being tracked...even after they've logged out. Got the problem fixed...bull$hit..I say it isn't and it was intentional in the first place!

‘We didn’t mean to track you’ says Facebook as social network giant admits to ‘bugs’ in new privacy row

by Break The Matrix on September 29, 2011
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Facebook has admitted that it has been watching the web pages its members visit – even when they have logged out.

In its latest privacy blunder, the social networking site was forced to confirm that it has been constantly tracking its 750million users, even when they are using other sites.

The social networking giant says the huge privacy breach was simply a mistake – that software automatically downloaded to users’ computers when they logged in to Facebook ‘inadvertently’ sent information to the company, whether or not they were logged in at the time.

Most would assume that Facebook stops monitoring them after they leave its site, but technology bloggers discovered this was not the case.

In fact, data has been regularly sent back to the social network’s servers – data that could be worth billions when creating ‘targeted’ advertising based on the sites users visit.

The website’s practices were exposed by Australian technology blogger Nik Cubrilovic and have provoked a furious response across the internet.

Facebook claims to have ‘fixed’ the issue – and ‘thanked’ Mr Cubrilovic for pointing it out – while simultaneously claiming that it wasn’t really an issue in the first place.

Mr Cubrilovic found that when you sign up to Facebook it automatically puts files known as ‘cookies’ on your computer which monitor your browsing history.

This is still the case. But Facebook claims the cookies no longer send information while you are logged out of its site. If you are logged in to Facebook, the cookies  will still send the information, and they remain on your computer unless you manually delete them.

They send Facebook your IP address – the ‘unique identifier’ address of your PC – and information on whether you have visited millions of websites: anything with a Facebook ‘like’ or ‘recommend’ button on it.‘We place cookies on the computer of the user,’ said a Facebook spokesperson – and admitted that some Facebook cookies send back the address of users’ PCs and sites they had visited, even while logged out.

‘Three of these cookies inadvertently included unique identifiers when the user had logged out of Facebook. We did not store these for logged out users. We could not have used this information.’

However, the site spokesperson said that the ‘potential issue’ had now been ‘fixed’ so that the cookies will no longer broadcast information: ‘We fixed the cookies so they won’t include unique information in the future when people log out.’

‘It’s just the latest privacy issue to affect a company that has a long history of blunders relating to user’s private information.
article 2042573 0E0A751800000578 900 233x329 We didnt mean to track you says Facebook as social network giant admits to bugs in new privacy row

http://breakthematrix.com/internet/we-track-you-facebook-social-network-giant-admits-bugs-privacy-row/

[DejaVu]

Federal Reserve wants to read your Facebook posts

    By Alice Lipowicz
    Sep 30, 2011

Complaints on Twitter or Facebook about jobs or rising food prices may become fodder for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s assessments of the world’s current economic conditions.

The bank has issued a request for proposals seeking a contractor to help gauge the nation’s economic mood by sampling conversations on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and blogs.

The bank said it wants a Sentiment Analysis and Social Media Monitoring Solution to gather and report data from around the world, in multiple languages, on a continuous basis.

The proposal calls for “Social Media Listening Platforms” to be created to “monitor billions of conversations” and generate text analytics.

Although the bank is billing the project as run-of-the-mill situational awareness, some bloggers are warning of Big Brother concerns.

“The Fed has just entered the counterespionage era and will be monitoring everything written about it anywhere in the world,” Tyler Durden, blogger for ZeroHedge.com, wrote in a blog entry breaking the news of the bank’s plans on Sept. 25.

A bank spokesman further described the plans in an article in the Los Angeles Times.

Bank officials state in the RFP that they want to stay current on public opinion, and social media monitoring provides a means to do that.

“Social media platforms are changing the way organizations are communicating to the public,” the request states. “Conversations are happening all the time and everywhere. There is need for the Communications Group to be timely and proactively aware of the reactions and opinions expressed by the general public as it relates to the Federal Reserve and its actions on a variety of subjects.”

The platforms to be developed also may “determine the sentiment of a speaker or writer with respect to some topic or document,” the RFP states. “The information gathered can guide the organization's public relations group in assessing the effectiveness of communication strategies.”

The solution will be used to help the Federal Reserve track the impact of messages and press releases, handle crisis situations, identify and reach key bloggers and opinion influencers, and spot emerging trends.

The platform also must be to analyze and provide overviews of public opinion on certain topics and include a dashboard that can be customized.

Source: http://fcw.com/articles/2011/09/30/federal-reserve-wants-to-track-facebook-twitter-chatter.aspx

Yeah...they are always looking for ways to herd and manipulate the public...