By B.L. Ochman
LUNA, maker of Luna Nutrition Bars, is holding a Facebook contest in which entrants could win a year’s supply of Luna Bars.
The contest is part of a commendable larger program which debunks diet myths and promotes womens’ health.
Unfortunately, like so many brands, LUNA has chosen to run the contest on Facebook.
Even though Luna’s own privacy policy is quite usual for a brand, it abandons that sane policy for one that really crosses the line when it moves to Facebook.
You enter the contest, and you have to give Luna access to your name, profile, picture, gender, list of friends, networks, user ID, and any other information you made public.”
Only if you decline that option do you see the image above and learn that they’d also need to know your work history and education history – information that has nothing whatsoever to do with the contest.
That’s actually part of Facebook’s ever-changing data sharing policy that gives brands access to all of your friends and all of their information any time you Like a page, even if you don’t do it on Facebook.
OK, I can certainly see why a contest would need to know your basic information: name, address, phone number and email. After all, they’d need all that to contact you if you win or to send you your prize. But why would they also need to know your work history and education history?
According to a new Consumer Reports study, nearly 13 million Facebook users either don’t know how to manage their privacy settings or don’t even realize they exist. Only 37% have altered their privacy settings to control what third-party apps can “see” about them — which they have the ability to do in some cases based on the activity of a user’s friend.
Be afraid. From Facebook’s data use policy:
“Granting us this permission not only allows us to provide Facebook as it exists today, but it also allows us to provide you with innovative features and services we develop in the future that use the information we receive about you in new ways.”
Do you really want a bunch of nutrition bars that much?
Bonus Links:
– Dear Dog.com: Here are the top three reasons why forcing Facebook “Likes” is a bad – and prohibited – idea
– Chase Community Giving Contest becomes poster child for what not to do in corporate philanthropy
I imagine a large percentage of folks dont know they are turning over huge amounts of personal information. I believe South Park drove the point home when they did an episode around Apple Terms and Conditions updates. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZ23kosLFec
On the flip side, companies are collecting tons of data without thinking about how they want to use that data. If they can get it, they want it, and figure out what to do with it later.
Thanks for the South Park link! Such a good one!
The study I noted says that 73% of FB users never even look at their privacy settings. Consumer Reports did the study.