Snoopy Parents? Or Did Facebook Out Teen?

A group called Privacy International is backing off its claim that a teenager named "David" had been outed to his parents by Facebook.

The group recently removed its post, which recounted the tale of how Facebook delivered targeted advertising to "David" that included overtly gay material, and then how his parents had found the ads after "David" accidentally left his Facebook page open on a computer.

Privacy International said the parents "evicted" the London teen from their home. The story had spread via blogs and all the way to Forbes magazine, which got a response from Facebook.

"We sympathize with anyone who has been the victim of discrimination and we are saddened by the story Privacy International shared on its blog," a Facebook spokesperson toldForbes. "However, this case is about appalling discrimination and unauthorized access to a person's account, not advertising."

Privacy International claims "David" never posted anything gay related. But Facebook explains that its ads are chosen based on information posted to a person's profile, which means its already accessible to their Facebook friends and not exactly secret.

Now Privacy International is backing down, removing the anonymous story because "the man's partner has requested that the piece be removed. While anonymity has been fully respected it was agreed that the potential interest in this very sad situation might not be helpful to a resolution of the personal issues involved."