And as usual, ruffle some privacy feathers while they’re at it.

On the 18^th of August, Facebook announced the arrival of Facebook Places.  This is a strong indication that Facebook is set on taking on new kid on the social block, Foursquare. Facebook Places allows registered users to ‘check in’ to bars, pubs, clubs, shops or petty much anywhere else they care to mention and displays this information to other users. Indeed, with the correct permissions, it even allows your friends to ‘check you in’ without you even knowing.

Facebook herald this addition as an enhancement to their original offering of Who, What, When….and now Where. Their argument is that people are already sharing this data and that all Facebook Places offers is an effective method to distribute this information.

Privacy advocates, of which Facebook is a favourite target, argue that even though Facebook places asks permission before displaying a person’s location, this new function invites problems. Philip Lop of Helium.com comments, “Facebook Places encourages much more active participation in …. data sharing without really asking its users to consider the implications of their actions.”

Facebook Places is currently only available on iPhones.

Philip Lop’s article: http://www.helium.com/items/1960793-privacy-concerns-over-facebook-places

Facebook’s announcement of Facebook Places: http://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=418175202130