Facebook admits tracking non-users

It has emerged that Facebook has been secretly installing tracking cookies on users' computers, even when users have opted to delete their accounts.

It has emerged that Facebook has been secretly installing tracking cookies on users’ computers, even when users have opted to delete their accounts.

A  report by Belgian academics claimed that Facebook continued tracking people when they opted out of ads, but Facebook responded in a blog post, saying that said it only kept information like “web impressions” — the fact that certain pages have been visited — and the authors of the report had misleadingly called that “tracking”.

Facebook said that cookies may have been placed in “a few instances”, but that the team is addressing those “inadvertent instances”. Facebook rejected outright the rest of the claims made in the report.

The social network hit back saying that the report “gets it wrong multiple times in asserting how Facebook uses information”. The researchers did find a bug that may have sent cookies to some people when they weren’t on Facebook. This was not our intention – a fix for this is already under way,” wrote Richard Allan, Facebook’s vice president of policy for Europe in a rebuttal.

 

Subscribe to get your daily business insights

Engagement To Empowerment - Winning in Today's Experience Economy
Report | Digital Transformation

Engagement To Empowerment - Winning in Today's Experience Economy

2y

Engagement To Empowerment - Winning in Today's Exp...

Customers decide fast, influenced by only 2.5 touchpoints – globally! Make sure your brand shines in those critical moments. Read More...

View resource
Announcement Alert from Lee Arthur
Weekly briefing | Digital Transformation

Announcement Alert from Lee Arthur

2y

Announcement Alert from Lee Arthur

Announcement Alert!! Read More

View resource
The 2023 B2B Superpowers Index
Whitepaper | Digital Transformation

The 2023 B2B Superpowers Index

3y

The 2023 B2B Superpowers Index

The Merkle B2B 2023 Superpowers Index outlines what drives competitive advantage within the business culture and subcultures that are critical to succ...

View resource
Impact of SEO and Content Marketing
Whitepaper | Digital Transformation

Impact of SEO and Content Marketing

3y

Impact of SEO and Content Marketing

Making forecasts and predictions in such a rapidly changing marketing ecosystem is a challenge. Yet, as concerns grow around a looming recession and b...

View resource