“Natural or not, finding oneself in an ad unexpectedly is a worrisome prospect. I enjoy Facebook and the fun my friends and I have therein. And I have been careful not to join a group that might come back to bite me. Still, I shouldn’t have to worry about my face–or rather the faces of my daughters–ending up in an ad.”

I don’t know how many people have come across these ads yet, but in effect they turn you, the Facebook user, into a product spokesperson.  Ostensibly this happens with your permission, but most people really have no idea what they have agreed to.

Working in this industry and as focused on social media and emerging technologies as I am, the first reports about this issue with Facebook’s Social Ad platform really got my attention.  When I discovered that making myself a “fan” of a company or brand gave them the right to use my face and name in their ads on Facebook – unless I expressly blocked them from doing so — kind of bothered me.

In Facebook’s defence, they have some pretty solid privacy controls for users.   Most people just don’t even know they are there, which benefits Facebook’s advertisers.  I have my privacy settings now to block anyone from using my name and face in their ads.  This is why privacy literacy is so important.  It’s really on the users to make sure they know what is going on, because it benefits companies like Facebook to not really tell you.

Here’s a few recent articles on Facebook’s ad programs and privacy concerns:

• What Is Stuart Elliott Doing On Facebook Shilling For Canadian Club? – Online Media Daily
• MoveOn Launches Privacy Campaign Against Facebook Social Ads – Marketing Vox
• Are Facebook’s Social Ads Illegal? - Bits, New York Times Blog
• Apologetic, Facebook Changes Ad Program – New York Times

[tags]privacy, facebook, social ads[/tags]