Facebook targets family with advertisements

MANY Facebook users may already find it unsettling when the website shows them adverts for things they’ve looked at elsewhere on the internet.

But the social media giant is about to get even more creepy – by targeting whole households at a time. Those who see an advert for a hotel in France, for example, could find the rest of their family have been shown the same one.

Facebook hopes they will then sit around the dinner table making their holiday plans and will all come up with the same idea.Household targeting could also be used to try to persuade every member of a family that they need a household subscription to Netflix, or to improve the quality of gift-giving – by showing a husband the exact item his wife desires.

But the scheme has sparked concern among Facebook users, who do not want to give the rest of their household clues about the things they have signed up to.Household targeting could spoil birthday surprises by revealing what a loved one has bought, or expose cheating spouses by sending partners ads for dating websites or romantic getaways they’re not invited on. Facebook users can technically opt out of the scheme in their privacy settings, by unticking the category which says they are a “member of a family-based household”.

Facebook already uses “cookies” – data sent by websites you have visited. It uses this to make sure you see adverts for items you are likely to be interested in.

That is why, when you look at a product on a shopping site, you often see an advert for it on Facebook. It matches people’s surnames, compares the places they have “checked in” together, and looks at the information people give away about themselves.

It also uses location data, including people’s postcode or their IP address. – Daily Mail