Add the wrong Facebook widget and your face could appear in ads all over
Ad network for widgetmakers SocialMedia plans to serve ads in Facebook widgets and possibly across the Internet that use pictures of the ad-viewers' Facebook friends. Called "social banners," the service can only display a Facebook user's picture if that user already added a widget made by one of SocialMedia's partners, thereby agreeing to share such personal information. But after adding the widget, the "social banners" service is opt-out only — much like Facebook Beacon, the controversial ad program Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg called a "mistake" at the AllThingsD conference. The news has Facebook-watcher and SocialTimes blogger Nick O'Neil freaked out. "There are a number of issues at hand and many of them are extremely complex," O'Neill writes. We're not that worried. Facebook users should know that adding a third-party application means you're willing to share your personal information with that third-party. A commenter on O'Neill's post puts its simpler: "If you don’t like it just change settings to block 3rd party cookies. 10 seconds, privacy issues solved."