• ZDNet, Tuesday, October 4, 2011 11:39 AM

Is Facebook once again employing a highly controversial tracking cookie? So says self-proclaimed hacker Nik Cubrilovic, after being tipped off by Twitter user Jonathan Mayer. "The datr cookie, which can be used for tracking users, is once again being set on third-party web sites with a Facebook social plugin -- whether you are logged in or logged out of the service," ZDNet writes, sourcing Cubrilovic.

Earlier this year, The Wall Street Journal caused a stir when it reported that some Facebook widgets had, for a time, obtained browsing data about users who had never visited Facebook.com, though Facebook wouldn't know their identity. Facebook said it had discontinued that practice, which it described as a "bug."

As ZDNet explains, "The cookie was being set even if the user had never been to the Facebook site, and even if he or she didn't click on a given Facebook widget." Cubrilovic says the datr cookie is now back, and, again, is being "set by all the third-party sites that we tested." No word yet from Facebook on these accusations.

Read the whole story at ZDNet »