10-08-2011, 08:55 AM
[size="3"][url="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/social-media/Facebook-sued-over-tracking-logged-out-users/articleshow/10215692.cms"]Facebook sued over tracking logged out users[/url] : TOI, Oct 3, 2011
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Quote:LONDON: A group of users have sued Facebook after it emerged that the social networking giant tracks its users' online activities after they are logged out.
Australian technologist Nik Cubrilovic recently claimed that when the user is logged out of Facebook, rather than deleting its tracking cookies, the site merely modifies them, maintaining account information and other unique tokens that can be used to identify its users.
Facebook then admitted its cookies could have been used to track people, adding that the company has now fixed the problem.
But 10 public interest groups have asked the US Federal Trade Commission to investigate Facebook's tracking of internet users, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.
They have urged the commission to examine whether Facebook's new ticker and timeline features increased privacy risks for users by combining biographical information in an easily accessible format.
According to the report, the lawsuit that has been filed by Perrin Aikens Davis, of Illinois, seeks class status on behalf of other Facebook users in the US.
Davis seeks unspecified damages and a court order blocking the tracking based on violations of federal laws, including restrictions on wiretapping, as well as computer fraud and abuse statutes.
Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes, however, said in a statement that this 'complaint is without merit' and that they 'will fight it vigorously'.
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