If they actually activate this, I'll cancel my Facebook account

[nancylebov]

##Massive Correction## It looks like there's nothing there at all. I should probably not be the first to sound the alarm on this sort of thing.

Correction:The current system is opt-in. However, I'm still concerned that Facebook will switch it to opt-out, but there's less current reason for concern than I was feeling.

Facebook is thinking about aps that will track and possibly post your browser activity.

I'm not the most private person on the web. I don't post about everything in my life, but I do post under my own name.

I've only made a little use of facebook, but there are people there that I know and comment to, or am glad to see how they're doing.

Posting what I'm doing on line without my explicit choice is too much.

Comments

[mneme]

Learn and Teach

Before you panic, the sky isn’t falling. The new Facebook isn’t monitoring and broadcasting your actions simply by logging in. People will not leave Facebook en masse. At the heart of the matter, we are talking about a new class of intelligent apps based on the revamped Open Graph platform where developers can integrate sharing into your interaction. As you install each app, you MUST explicitly give it permission to update your Timeline. No app can update your Timeline without your unequivocal consent. The better apps will of course offer transparency in how exactly your Timeline will be updated and why it is advantageous for you to do so.

They're not talking about having it follow your browser activity.

They're talking about being able to tell it "when I post a review on Goodreads, put a post on Facebook pointing back to it" or "when I listen to a song on Spotify, set my status to listening to it", or "when I play a game on Facebook, put it in my timeline". This functionally is available and active now; the sky isn't falling.

(basically, they're not talking about spybots; they're talking about more facile integration with apps where that's appropriate and where you give the app permission to do this).

(also, all my examples are things that are true now; this isn't something that's "going to be active"; it's something that's been available for quite some time).