Court Orders Facebook to Allow Users to Opt Out of Being Used in Ads

It took a lawsuit to do it, but users will have the option of not being used in ads on Facebook. The core issue is Sponsored Stories, an ad option that implied an endorsement. Whenever people liked a page or even shared a link, Facebook could use that and show it to other users.

Of course, Facebook does this all the time via the News Feed for example. The difference was that Sponsored Stories were ads. Though the behavior was the same, users weren't that comfortable with their actions being used commercially.

A class action lawsuit was filed and Facebook lost. It's going to pay several million dollars to the lawyers involved in the case and it's going to lose a lot more than (in lost revenue) that if people start opting out of the feature in mass.

Via: Court Orders Facebook to Allow Users to Opt Out of Being Used in Ads