Do you know if your employees use Facebook at work? Chances are, they are. Goofing off on the job aside, your workers may be unknowlingly divulging personal and business information to advertisers and other websites. Facebook's recent changes to how they manage user data is drawing a lot of criticism, particularly a new feature that allows users to indicate if they "Like" something, including another company's product; the user's preference is then made available to third parties (unless the user opts out).
Privacy-related issues on the web are nothing new. I'm all for people doing what they want with their own personal information. The thing you as a small business owner have to be aware of is how your employees may be putting your business at risk by representing — or misrepresenting — it online. If they're actively representing your company on Facebook or there are other tie-ins (e.g., friends or fan memberships) that ultimately lead back to your organization, such marketing data shared with third parties can end up being a reflection of your busines that you may or may not want.
How do you handle this? There's no simple answer. You don't want to be draconian about computer use at the office. At the same time, do you really want your employees having free reign and potentially exposing your business to additional risk? The best thing you can do is talk to your employees about what's expected. Share with them the things they should and should not be doing online (Facebook and elsewhere) — especially if they're representing your company — and then make it company policy so you have a leg to stand on in case you need to take more direct action later.
Here are some additional resources on employee computer usage and policies that may be of help.
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