Recently the white-hot social networking site Facebook implemented a new feature called Beacon, which tells your Facebook “friends” about purchases you make on eBay and other sites. Here’s how The Wall Street Journal (it’s no Us Weekly, but it’s pretty good) describes it:

Facebook users could receive messages telling them that a friend had bought a sweater on Overstock.com or a movie ticket on Fandango.com…

Beacon’s success is crucial for Facebook, of Palo Alto, Calif. Third-party sites, working in conjunction with Facebook, use Beacon at no cost. Facebook benefits because, when a Facebook user shares information with his friends, Facebook can use that information to learn about the individual and send him targeted ads.

Facebook users are revolting. Plus, they’re angry about this Beacon thing! At first there was no way for them to opt out of this invasion of their privacy. Facebook has now made it easier to opt out completely, and has apologized.

The whole thing is ironic, considering that Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been trying to get some of his own personal information taken down from the Internet:

[Zuckerberg] is being called a hypocrite for trying to force a website to take down unflattering personal documents from his university days, while he was at the same time profiting from the sale of Facebook users’ personal information.

But the court ruled against Facebook and the documents, which include Zuckerberg’s Harvard application and excerpts from his old blog, remain online. Among the details exposed were his girlfriend’s full name, his parents’ home address and his social security number.

When you pry into my business, it’s snooping. When I pry into yours, I’m just “trying to start a conversation.” Brilliant!

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