Facebook's Assumed Consent for Social Ads - Smart or Suicidal?

Brent Leary and Paul Greenberg are starting a new audio show called "CRM Playaz".  You can listen to the first episode and you'll learn that they are sharp guys with some interesting things to say.  And they are pretty funny too.

You'll also learn that they are fans of HubSpot on Facebook, but they are also a little pissed off at HubSpot, specifically because of our Facebook ads.  Here's what upset them. An ad for HubSpot that mentions that Paul is a fan of HubSpot.  Paul feels like we did this without his permission.

So how did I do it?  Well, it is actually pretty easy.  When I created the ad on Facebook (learn how to advertise on Facebook here), I clicked on a single checkbox.  That's it!  All Facebook ads allow you to "add social actions" in one click and that can add the profile picture and a statement about the relationship from any of your fans or group members.

Basically, Facebook assumes implicit permission for people to use your name and your brand to advertise products that are associated with the groups you join and the pages you become a fan of.  Now, as a user you can control this, but the default setting is for advertisers to be able to do exactly what we did with Paul and HubSpot.  By the way, if you want to opt-out of Facebook social ads, just click on "Settings -> Privacy Settings -> News Feed and Wall -> Social Ads."

What do you think about this?  Are Paul and Brent right?

Is Facebook invading people's privacy by allowing marketers to use their face and name in ads for companies where they have expressed some level of support?  I have my opinions, but what do you think?  Leave a comment below.  I added a copy of Paul's thoughtful comment that he left on the ZDNet article (first link above) to get things started here.

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