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Facebook has admitted that it constantly tracks its 750 million users even after they log out.
Technology bloggers have discovered that the social networking site monitors the other webpages the users visit, reported The Daily Mail.
Engineering director of Facebook, Mr Arturo Bejar, admitted that users continue to be tracked after they log out, but was quick to point out that the data was deleted right away.
Mr Bejar explained that this is to do with the way the "like" feature works, a button which users click on to indicate whether they like something.
"The onus is on us to take all the data and scrub it. What really matters is what we say s a company and back it up," he said.
The data that is sent back to Facebook's servers include the IP address, or unique identifier of your computer, and a log of what you have been viewing.
These information help Facebook make billions of dollars each year from advertising, as such information is highly valuable.
A spokesman from Facebook said the log in and out function was for security and to prevent fraud.
He said: "We do not use this information to target adverts."
The tracking practices were exposed by Australian technology blogger Nik Cubrilovic, who found that when a user signs up to Facebook, monitoring files known as "cookies" get stored on the user's computer.
Mr Cubrilovic wrote: "Even if you are logged out, Facebook still knows and can track every page you visit. The only solution is to delete every Facebook cookie in your browser, or to use a separate (web) browser for Facebook interactions."
His findings have provoked furious responses across the Web.
A user wrote on technology blog CNET: "Who the hell do these people think they are? 'Trust us?' Why? Why should we trust a company that spies on us without our knowledge and consent?"
Another added: "Holy wow...they've just leapt way past Google on the creepy meter."
A Dutch researcher revealed earlier this year that Facebook was gathering browser data from Internet users who had never even been to Facebook.com.
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Technology bloggers have discovered that the social networking site monitors the other webpages the users visit, reported The Daily Mail.
Engineering director of Facebook, Mr Arturo Bejar, admitted that users continue to be tracked after they log out, but was quick to point out that the data was deleted right away.
Mr Bejar explained that this is to do with the way the "like" feature works, a button which users click on to indicate whether they like something.
"The onus is on us to take all the data and scrub it. What really matters is what we say s a company and back it up," he said.
The data that is sent back to Facebook's servers include the IP address, or unique identifier of your computer, and a log of what you have been viewing.
These information help Facebook make billions of dollars each year from advertising, as such information is highly valuable.
A spokesman from Facebook said the log in and out function was for security and to prevent fraud.
He said: "We do not use this information to target adverts."
The tracking practices were exposed by Australian technology blogger Nik Cubrilovic, who found that when a user signs up to Facebook, monitoring files known as "cookies" get stored on the user's computer.
Mr Cubrilovic wrote: "Even if you are logged out, Facebook still knows and can track every page you visit. The only solution is to delete every Facebook cookie in your browser, or to use a separate (web) browser for Facebook interactions."
His findings have provoked furious responses across the Web.
A user wrote on technology blog CNET: "Who the hell do these people think they are? 'Trust us?' Why? Why should we trust a company that spies on us without our knowledge and consent?"
Another added: "Holy wow...they've just leapt way past Google on the creepy meter."
A Dutch researcher revealed earlier this year that Facebook was gathering browser data from Internet users who had never even been to Facebook.com.
[email protected]
