6A THE WICHITA EAGLE - THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2007 [Wichita, KS, US.]

(N)ew program lets companies tap ongoing conversations by alerting users about friends' activities through the feeds. About 48 Web sites have decided to embed a free tool from Facebook, known as a Beacon, to enable the marketing feeds.

Facebook shows users' purchases to friends

BY ANICK JESOANUN
AND RACHEL METZ
Associated Press

NEW YORK— Some users of the online hangout Facebook are complaining that its two-week-old marketing program is publicizing their purchases for friends to see.

Those users say they never noticed a small box that appears on a corner of their Web browsers following transactions at Fandango, Overstock and other online retailers. The box alerts users that information is about to be shared with Facebook unless they click on "No Thanks." It disappears after about 20 seconds, after which consent is assumed.

Users are given a second notice the next time they log onto Facebook, but they can easily miss it if they quickly click away to visit a friend's page or check e-mail.

"People should be given much more of a notice, much more of an alert," said Matthew Helfgott, 20, a college student who discovered his girlfriend just bought him black leather gloves from Overstock for Hanukkah. "She said she had no idea (information would be shared). She said it invaded her privacy."

The girlfriend was declining interviews, Helfgott said.

Lots more words in the article, but the above is most of the content, I think. This is one of a series of recent "improvements" made by Facebook, several of which seem to be not known by many of their users.

I'd suggest keeping a sharp eye on the greedy bastards management.

John