Facebook bares that it tracks users, users who left Facebook long back or who came to visitors but never signed up. Is it a serious privacy issue for you over the Internet?
Facebook has revealed that it tracks its users online. What? Did you just feel a sigh of relief that there is no chance for Facebook to trace your online browsing behavior because you are not a Facebook user? Hold on, before you go ahead with pitying your Facebook user friends for as their online browsing behavior is bare and open to Facebook, you should know that chances are you too being tracked by Facebook. Your personal information and your online activities could also be tracked by Facebook if you ever happen to land up in Facebook. Yes, the second you visit any Facebook profile or page just to hunt for some information on a company or a profile (or track your spouse’s ex), Facebook will start following you throughout the Internet. Hence, needless to mention that people who have left Facebook are also being followed by Facebook.
Whether you are Googling or visiting any third party websites, Facebook tracks our online journey to delve into our personal information such as our religious inclination, sexual orientation, political beliefs and association, our health issues etc. USA Today has laid out a report and gathered some information on Facebook’s tracking activities. USA Today has claimed an explanation from Facebook to produce directly to Congress. On the basis of the information gathered by interviewing Arturo Bejar, (the engineer director of Facebook), Andrew Noyes (Facebook spokesman), Barry Schnitt (Facebook corporate spokesman) and Gregg Stefancik (Facebook engineering manager), USA Today has compiled    main points on Facebook’s tracking activies.
- Facebook does not track all the users in similar fashion. It uses two types of cookies that are browser cookies and session cookies to track users.
- Browser cookies are used to track people who have logged off, visited Facebook but have not signed up to be a member, get tracked by browser cookie.
- The browser cookie tracks IP address, operating system being used, screen resolution and browser version of your computer. Then, it starts tracking every single webpage with a Facebook plug-in or ‘Like’ button or any other plug-in that works with the cookie.
- When you have logged on to Facbook, the session cookie tracks records on your e-mail address that you use to login during your Facebook session and also your name, your friends, and personal data related to your Facebook profile.
Facebook has confirmed that session cookies will record your profile information till the time you are logged on to Facebook, while browser cookies will just record an alphanumeric identifier, no personal information.
For some people well this is one scary thing. Well it really is. In the Internet, there is a false belief that you are anonymous behinf a computer monitor. But here we have Facebook revealing they track you even when you are not yet a member of them.