Report: Facebook may begin collecting user mouse movements

Josh Peterson Tech Editor
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Facebook may soon begin tracking its users’ mouse movements.

Facebook analytics chief Kevin Rudin told the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday that the social network is looking to expand the kinds of behavioral data it collects from its websites’ users.

The data, if Facebook decides to move forward with the new project, could be added to the company’s data analytics warehouse for use with product development and ad targeting.

Ars Technica notes that websites often track where visitors click. But what makes Facebook’s anticipated data collection activities extraordinary is that it would monitor everything from how long a user’s cursor hovers over a certain part of the website to whether a user’s newsfeed is visible on the screen of that person’s mobile phone.

Rudin said that he will know within a couple of months whether the company will move forward with its new collection activities.

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