Facebook Admits to Tracking Non-Users Because of a "Bug"

It hasn't addressed other accusations of tracking, though.

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All of us Facebook users know (or should know) the social network tracks the shit out of us. But it turns out this treatment isn't exclusive to people who actually use Facebook. After Belgian researchers released a report on Facebook tracking non-users, the social network has admitted that its social plugins have added cookies to people's computers, even if they've opted into a do-not-track system or aren't Facebook users. 

"Our practice is not to place cookies on the browsers of people who have visited sites with Social Plugins but who have never visited Facebook.com to sign up for an account," Facebook’s vice president of policy in Europe, Richard Allan, said. "The authors identified a few instances when cookies may have been placed, and we began to address those inadvertent cases as soon as they were brought to our attention."

Facebook hasn't addressed all of the Beligan researchers' claims, though. The report also said the social network has been caught placing long-term cookies when users try to opt out of tracking. If true, this makes for one of those "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situations. 

[via Mashable]

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