Facebook's Beacon Lawsuit Settlement Approved

The 2008 ‘Beacon’ class action lawsuit against Facebook that claimed violation of consumer privacy has now been settled by a federal judge. The Beacon program, which Facebook terminated in late 2009, publish information about consumer purchases — such as movie rentals, which is contrary to law — to the Facebook Wall of the purchaser and to their friends’ feeds. In one instance, a to-be-surprise gift of jewelry was broadcast to one user’s Facebook network, obviously ruining the surprise for his wife.