• by Sean , November 11, 2007

If you haven't heard by now, Facebook is using a new method of advertising: they're allowing users to opt-in to share information about products and services they use, and Facebook turns that information around into targeted sponsored ads in the "news feed" feature of the social networking site.

This is quite the innovative approach to targeted advertising -- but some are questioning the legality of it. In particular, New York state has a century old statute that reads "any person whose name, portrait, picture, or voice is used within this state for advertising purposes or for the purposes of trade without the written consent first obtained."

Here's the question: does a broad "opt-in" act translate into "expressed written consent" successfully enough for Facebook to use a person's name, picture, or otherwise to promote a sponsored product or service?

So far, it appears the answer is "no."