• Wired, Thursday, January 3, 2008 9:45 AM

Amid the hubbub over Beacon, the privacy implications of Facebook's other advertising platform, Social Ads have been almost overlooked. The Palo Alto-based social network has reserved the right to let businesses use your image in their ad campaigns. That's right, your name and profile picture could become part of a brand's pitch once you opt to take a "social action" involving a brand.

According to a Facebook spokesperson, a "social action" could be just about anything, from the downloading of an application to accepting a simple friend request--from a brand, that is. For example, sign up for Blockbuster's Movie Clique app and suddenly you've volunteered yourself to become a Blockbuster spokesperson to your Facebook friends.

The giant question is: are Facebook users aware of the consequences? No, says Forrester Research Senior Analyst Jeremiah Owyang. "When you become a fan of Blockbuster, nothing tells the [Facebook member] what that means," he says. So Facebook is essentially hiding that you could be shilling that brand's products. Worse, there's no way to opt-out of participating in the program, but you can avoid it by keeping yourself away from corporate brands on Facebook. Is that even legal? Some experts say "no."

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