WHO CARES??? So what if someone knows you like Butternut Squash recipes. Big deal. So what if they know what sites you visit. Besides, you are using a private company's website, you are not required to use Facebook. What do you people need to be kept secret so much? Privacy schmivacy!

Regardless, if you're over the age of 20, you're too old to be on Facebook or Myspace.

YOU SCAB!! There's a comedy writer's strike you know!!!!!

Come on. Imagine that every time you bought something in a (real) shop, you had to insist that the assistant didn't write a letter to everyone one of your friends telling them exactly what you've bought.

WHO CARES??? So what if the government knows you like talked to your mother on the phone earlier.. Big deal. So what if they know who you call. Besides, you are using a private company's telephone network, you are not required to use Verizon. What do you people need to be kept secret so much? Privacy schmivacy!

Regardless, if you're over the age of 20, you're too old to be using a cellular phone.

I had heard of this but wasn't sure why it was such a big deal...until I made an online purchase for my fiance's Hanukah present. No, I do not want her to know what I bought or where I bought it (she's smart, she'd guess correctly) until I give it to her.

It is fair that Facebook 'allows' you to opt-out...but all things being equal, I'd rather choose to opt-in instead. I don't care if all my Facebook friends know I just bought myself the new Batman graphic novel from Amazon.com...but otherwise it's just intrusive.

Can't remember where (I'm sure if I was on Facebook, everyone I know could tell me, though). It was talking about things like broadcasting everything you buy, and people were upset that they'd buy a surprise gift for a friend, for instance, only to find that the friend was notified of the purchase. People are holiday-shopping and finding lists of everything they bought displayed for all to see. What Grinchitude!

It's kind of horrifying. I even made my Amazon Wish list private, and just use it as a place to remind myself about items I eventually want to buy.

...just bought a full-sized anatomically correct latex doll from SexToys.com.

Here it is:

http://consumerist.com/consumer/privacy/facebook-ruins-christmas-325651.php

...and I'm not ashamed at all! I'm proud of her!

But you make a good point, what it REALLY comes down to is people are uncomfortable with other people finding out about their "extracurricular" viewing and buying habits AKA what porn they watch. Do you really care if someone knows you like butternut squash?

p.s. Telling people what you bought them for Christmas is just dumb on Facebooks part.

Is it not weird that Facebook executives would decide that publicizing every member's purchases and emailing everyone on their "friends" list would be a good thing to phase in just as the Xmas Shopping Season kicks off? ("Kicks off" indeed - apparently, it's died for many a Facebook member already.)

For the several respondents who assert "Who cares?" - you must be Hindus or Buddhists or Moslems, or not live in the US. In the United States, at this time every year, we celebrate a big commercial Buy-Fest in which every one must buy one or more SECRET gifts for pretty much every one they know. To help preserve the SECRET, said gifts are wrapped in brightly-decorated wrapping paper. They are not to be opened until Christmas Day (or Christmas Eve, for some.) It's important that the nature of each gift be kept SECRET from the giver's FRIENDS.

Thus, emailing all the online FRIENDS whenever the giver makes a purchase kind of kills off the spirit of the holiday, don'tcha think? Particularly when that nice doo-hickey was obtained from - gasp! Overstock.com!

It's not just about what you bought your friends for Christmas; as another article pointed out elsewhere, how would you like your recent Amazon book purchase of "Living With HIV/AIDS" blasted out to all your friends? Maybe you picked up a book on controlling chronic genital herpes while you were at it.

Or perhaps you wouldn't mind all your friends and prospective employers seeing you do online price shopping for your necessary bipolar meds, or your recent purchase of "How to File Chapter 7 Bankruptcy" from nolo.com, or the rape recovery books you put on your wish list at B&N.

Oh, wait, I forgot: you have nothing to hide.

Think, people. Think. It's not all just about Christmas presents and Epicurious recipes.

... on whether or not Facebook has already signed contracts and collected money for this deal, making it difficult to back out even though it's starting to look like a bad idea?

I don't know how long "opting out" has been a marketing technique, although I do know I bore the brunt of its obnoxiousness as a customer service rep a full 30 years ago.

I was working for a major national retailer who had started a credit card security service. The service was pretty elementary: Reps like me would contact all of our customers' creditors in the event that wallets and purses were lost or stolen, to stop the cards and request replacement. This service was introduced as a $1.00 "stealth" (my term) charge on our customers' monthly statements. I can only assume the hope was that customers wouldn't notice or be bothered by this piddling amount and simply let it continue.

I won't bore you with the details of the angry letters and phone calls from the customers who DID object to it, demanding that this unrequested service be cancelled and credited IMMEDIATELY.

Thirty years ago this aggressive marketing technique seemed sleazy to me, and it still does. Only today, as this Facebook debacle demonstrates, the stakes are much, much higher. The customer manipulation and invasion of privacy implicit in this is chilling.

It's not just the publicizing of your shopping/browsing habits - it's the fact that Facebook is tracking all of your web sessions. As far as you're concerned, you've left their site and are off looking at other stuff. But, as far as the greedful executives at Facebook are concerned, you are theirs.

Everywhere you go, they ride along. Are they intercepting your (hopefully encrypted) credit card or PayPal transactions? Are they storing them somewhere? Where's their security? Even if you can trust these guys, can you trust that they're protecting your financial private information?

Do you really want people like this hijacking all your web sessions?

Seriously - why would anyone tolerate it?