December 7, 2007

Amid Uproar, Facebook Changes Parts of Its Targeted Advertising System

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologized Wednesday for the popular social networking site's controversial new marketing program, telling users they can turn it off if they feel that it threatens their privacy. Overstock.com, one of Facebook's partners, had backed out of the program after receiving customer complaints. It said it plans to monitor the response to Wednesday's about-face before deciding if it will return. Jeff Chester, executive director for the Center for Digital Democracy, said the group, along with the Electronic Privacy Information Center, still plans to file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. "We need to have real privacy policies governing these powerful social networks," he said.

Facebook apologizes, pulls back on social ads, San Francisco Chronicle, December 6, 2007.