Facebook Not Welcome under the Tree?

As the holiday season approaches and all the hustle and bustle with it, it always seems as though someone or something tries to ruin all the fun and festivities. At least according to some people, Facebook Beacon that is not sitting well with some people.

Tasha Valdez of Michigan said, “Oh my gosh, my cousins entire Christmas shopping list this week was displayed on the (Facebook News) feed. That’s so messed up. This has got to stop!”

“I don’t want to belong to a site that does this. I’ll delete my account very soon if this isn’t fixed,” said Joshua Nadas from Maryland.

Twenty-year old Matthew Helgott of New York discovered on the News Feed that his girlfriend had bought him black leather gloves for Hanukkah. His surprise gift was ruined.

Helfgott said, “Facebook is ruining Christmas! … She (Helfgott’s girlfriend) said she had no idea (information would be shared). She said it invaded her privacy.”

As a result of the incident, Helfgott’s girlfriend has since deleted her Facebook account.

Allie Sheerer of Pennsylvania said, “I feel I have big brother watching over my shoulder. I never thought I’d have a private company doing this; before I had always worried about government. This is not okay.”

Facebook Beacon is a part of Facebook Business Solutions and is designed to be a promotional tool for businesses.

The Facebook description of the feature says:

“Facebook Beacon actions include purchasing a product, signing up for a service, adding an item to a wish list, and more. When a user performs the action, they will be alerted that your website is sending a story to their profile and have a chance to opt out. No additional user action is needed for the story to be published on Facebook, and users remain in control of their information.”

murdok’ Jason Lee Miller first MoveOn.org filed a petition against Facebook. The civic action organization aspires to preserve the Internet and believes Facebook is violating its users’ privacy.

Spokesperson for MoveOn Civic Action, Adam Green said,

“It’s a huge breach of privacy… We love Facebook. We really want them to do the right thing, but it seems like they’re putting privacy on the backseat (and) instead, elevating the needs of their corporate advertisers.”

MoveOn believes Facebook should allow its users to “opt-in” instead of readily assuming they are already in. Currently, Facebook users must “opt-out” or decline sharing their information each time they make a transaction, but they cannot completely withdraw from the program.

Facebook released a preview of screen shots to

Catch more details of this story including interviews with Matthew Helfgott and MoveOn’s Adam Green by watching the murdok video, “Facebook: The Scrooge of 2007?”

At the time of publication, reports from TechCrunch and $' /></a> </div> <script> (function() { function initCopyableSections() { document.querySelectorAll('.article-content .copyable-section').forEach(function(section) { if (section.querySelector('.copyable-section__btn')) return; var btn = document.createElement('button'); btn.type = 'button'; btn.className = 'copyable-section__btn'; btn.setAttribute('aria-label', 'Copy to clipboard'); var label = section.getAttribute('data-copy-label'); btn.textContent = label ? 'Copy ' + label : 'Copy'; section.appendChild(btn); btn.addEventListener('click', function() { var contentEl = section.querySelector('.copyable-section__content'); var text; if (contentEl) { text = contentEl.textContent.trim(); } else { var clone = section.cloneNode(true); var btnClone = clone.querySelector('.copyable-section__btn'); if (btnClone) btnClone.parentNode.removeChild(btnClone); text = clone.textContent.trim(); } if (!text) return; navigator.clipboard.writeText(text).then(function() { var t = btn.textContent; btn.textContent = 'Copied!'; btn.classList.add('copied'); setTimeout(function() { btn.textContent = t; btn.classList.remove('copied'); }, 2000); }); }); }); } if (document.readyState === 'loading') { document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', initCopyableSections); } else { initCopyableSections(); } })(); </script>   <div class=$