Mark Zuckerberg, opened up advertising on Facebook last year taking the approach of ‘social actions’ of its users. He explains it in his press release that “The core of every user’s experience on Facebook is their page and that’s where (all) businesses are going to start as well. Social actions are powerful because they act as trusted referrals and reinforce the fact that people influence people. Social Ads can appear either within a user’s News Feed as sponsored content or in the ad space along the left side of the site.” (Read: Are Facebook ads conversational marketing?)

If you become the ‘Fan’ of a product that has Facebook profile, then that product can insert your name and profile directly into their pitches. According to Facebook, a user has to take a “social action” in order to trigger the appearance of their name and picture in an advertisement. This is not restricted to only becoming a fan of any product. According to Facebook spokesperson Brandee Barker, that could be almost any activity that the user does on Facebook, “such as the download of an application and the acceptance of a friend request.” It could also include becoming a “fan” of a business by clicking a link on that company’s Facebook page.

How many of us are aware of the results of Facebook’s so called social actions? Currently, nothing tells the user that this is the underlying criteria while you perform any action on Facebook. So if you decide to become a fan of a particular drink, don’t be surprised to see your face and name appearing next time on someone’s else profile page. There is no choice given to the user whether he or she would like their details to appear for any ad.

There should be a change made in this system whether it clearly spells out what you are getting into or have an ‘opt out’ option. As of now the only way to avoid this is by avoiding associating yourself with any corporate brands on Facebook.

William McGeveran, University of Minnesota law professor, who wrote extensively about Social Ads’ possible legal ramifications when the platform was announced, the problem is that users may be unwittingly lending their likenesses to advertising campaigns. “I would expect it to make many users uncomfortable to see their images appropriated this way for commercial purposes if they didn’t have warning and didn’t give true consent in advance.”

I personally adore Facebook and the fact that it has helped me in connecting with friends I never thought I would ever meet. But beware before becoming a complete fan!!!