Gawker has an article today about how Julia Allison may have broken the law by converting 2,500 of her Facebook ‘Friends’ into ‘Fans’ without their consent. Apparently, this violates laws against commercial appropriation – “simply put, the right to control whether one’s name and likeness is used in an advertisement to give the appearance of an endorsement.” Consenting to be friends with Julia Allison isn’t the same as consenting to publicly endorse her as a ‘Fan.’

The article quotes privacy expert Daniel Solove, who has written that the way that Facebook uses the ‘Become a Fan’ feature is actually against privacy law in all cases:

Suppose Michael Jordan says on national TV that he likes Wheaties. Does this allow Wheaties to use his image on its cereal box or in a commercial? The answer is no. The fact that Jordan says he likes Wheaties can be used in a news story; it can be used in a biography of Jordan. But it cannot be used in a commercial advertisement.

By extension, Solove argues, if Michael Jordan decides to ‘Become a Fan’ of Wheaties on Facebook, that information cannot be used in a commercial advertisement either – but on Facebook, it often is.

Posted: April 24, 2009