Beacon, a newly introduced service on Facebook, has been
caught up in the controversy surrounding online marketing and the invasion of
privacy.
Facebook, an online social networking site with about 60 million active members,
added Beacon as a tool to allow the community to share information with each
other on their activities on 44 websites, including Blockbuster Online, eBay and
Sony Pictures.
Through its tracking system, Beacon was informed immediately if a Facebook member bought a product from one of these websites.
Anyone with a Facebook profile could then access this
information, including companies partnered with Facebook.
The Facebook community protested against this tracking of their buying habits,
indicating a concern with how the information could be used to “fine tune” the
marketing efforts of the companies involved.
Obviously, technology is a remarkable tool offering endless possibilities of
action. However, when it finds itself in hands disconnected from ethics,
discernment or wisdom, it is a pernicious weapon turning against ourselves.
A good reminder that technological advance cannot, by any means, replace the
development of the human consciousness.
Machines are evolving, but are we?
