How many of you prefer to remain logged into Facebook throughout the day rather than entering your email address and password every time you want to check in on your friends?  I know a lot of people do… it’s a matter of convenience.  If I’m visiting Facebook regularly throughout the day it becomes incredibly annoying having to log in over and over again.  So, in order to make our lives easier Facebook offers us the “Keep me logged in” option:

This means that whenever you return to Facebook.com you are immediately logged into your account.

Here’s the problem:

Facebook has recently acknowledged that if you remain logged into Facebook.com they will actually create a running log that tracks the date, time, and URL of any website you visit that has embedded a Facebook plugin.  A “plugin” is website jargon basically referring to any unique website feature that invites you to “like” a Facebook page, share a link with Facebook friends, or preview a Facebook newsfeed directly on the site.

The reality is that MILLIONS of websites include Facebook plugins and therefore it is highly likely that over the course of a single day you will visit many websites that fall under Facebook’s tracking criteria.

For those who simply aren’t concerned about being tracked or having a log of your online activities in the hands of a 3^rd party then there’s nothing to worry about.  For the rest of you who value your privacy I would encourage you to properly log out of Facebook each and every time you’ve finished checking in on your friends:

Geoff Evans, Founder of Social Media Coach

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