On Monday, Amazon.com launched a beta version of a new service that allows users to log in to their Facebook profiles through the Amazon site, providing the e-commerce giant with information about themselves, their friends, and the products they like.
When a user connects their Facebook profile to Amazon, the will be given an “Amazon Facebook Page” which will use their social media profile to make buying recommendations based on their favourite books, movies, music and brands, and even list the upcoming birthdays of their Facebook friends and make gift recommendations for them.
Given the recent privacy concerns surrounding Facebook, Amazon has stressed that information will only flow one way – from Facebook to Amazon – and that Amazon won’t share any user or account information with Facebook or post anything on a user’s Wall without their consent.
Amazon has also said that it would not try to contact a user’s Facebook friends directly, and that if a user disconnects their Facebook account from Amazon, all information Amazon has received from Facebook will be deleted.
The online retailer has said that right now, its only goal is to use customers‘ likes and interests to generate better and more relevant recommendations for them and to get them to share which products they like with their friends.
