Local Editor

The online social network spies on you. According to recently unveiled information, Facebook can keep on monitoring internet users' activities even if they have logged off its website.
Using Facebook Connect, and some other social plug-ins, Facebook can launch a cookie on any website that has a "like" or "share" button, which provides Facebook access to an amazing amount of user information.
The Business Insider website reported Thursday that " the plug-ins are used to verify users, but the program also has the ability to gather personal information, such as the IP address of the internet user's computer, browsing data, outside login information, phone numbers, and so on. "
Using a cookie called the "datr" cookie, among other things, Facebook can get information on what the internet user has read on a webpage, even if the user did not click the "like" button.

For its part, the Wall Street Journal stated that "for this to work, a person only needs to have logged into Facebook or Twitter once in the past month. The sites will continue to collect browsing data, even if the person closes their browser or turns off their computers."

However, there is some light at the end of the tunnel, and internet users can still evade the ubiquitous eyes of Big Brother.

Abine, Ghostery, and some other companies have developed tools that allow users to block Facebook social plug-ins, cookies, and other trackers and that help users control how and when their information is tracked and distributed. 

Source: Press TV, Edited by moqawama.org