Did you know Facebook is tracking you everywhere you go on the Web?  Even after you log out of Facebook, they’re still tracking your footsteps and that data is tied to your Facebook User ID.

I’m a big fan of the Do Not Track option in Firefox, but why is Facebook tracking every website you visit after you log out?  Because they can.  This is done with a tracking cookie.

This morning, Nik Cubrilovic outlined the details in an article on his blog:

http://nikcub.appspot.com/logging-out-of-facebook-is-not-enough

To quote Nik:

“Facebook are only altering the state of the cookies instead of removing all of them when a user logs out.“

So what does Facebook have to say about all of this?  According to Facebook Systems Engineer, Gregg Stefancik, this was essentially an “oversight.”  Here’s his response to Nik’s findings:

Facebook Engineer Gregg Stefancik's Response | Click to Enlarge

Whatever Facebook was or was not tracking you around the web for, they were tracking you around the web.  They can say they’re not using that data, but it still stands – they have that data.

To enable Do Not Track in your browser:

• Firefox – Firefox Button > Options > Privacy > Tell web sites I do not want to be tracked
• Chrome – Keep My Opt-Outs Extension
• Internet Explorer 9 – Tools > Safety > Tracking Protection > Personalized List > Enable (We strongly recommend NOT USING Internet Explorer)