An article published by PC World entitled, “Advocates Ask FTC to Investigate Social Networking Ad Plans” attempts to shed light on the increasing need for consumer protection as social networking giants, Facebook and MySpace, move forward with advertising initiatives that may be exploiting their online participants.

Two consumer advocacy groups have asked the FTC to investigate whether new MySpace and Facebook advertising programs violate consumer privacy.

Two consumer advocacy groups have asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether new advertising initiatives announced last week by social networking sites MySpace and Facebook adequately protect consumer privacy.

In a Nov. 12 letter to FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras, the Center for Digital Democracy and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group claimed that the “ambitious new targeted advertising schemes” launched by MySpace.com and Facebook Inc. “make clear the advertising industry’s intentions to move full-speed ahead without regard to ensuring consumers are protected.”

Caroline McCarthy also comments on Facebook’s social advertising initiative in her post entitled, “Legally, are Facebook’s social ads kosher?”

Social Ads, which have already begun to appear on the site, are designed to boost Facebook’s lukewarm revenues by targeting ads directly toward the members in question. They allow Facebook members to sign up as “fans” of an advertiser and then have their names and profile photos displayed alongside the marketer’s ads on their friends’ Facebook pages. Problem is, that potentially violates a New York privacy law that protects peoples’ names and likenesses from being used without written permission, according to McGeveran.

Check out the Center for Digital Democracy and the Electronic Frontier Foundation to learn more about free speech, privacy and other issues impacting you on the web.