Facebook's proposed privacy policy changes face FTC review
Facebook, which has repeatedly tripped over its own feet when changing its privacy practices, has stumbled yet again.
The Federal Trade Commission said on Wednesday that it had begun an inquiry into whether the social network’s proposed new privacy policies, unveiled two weeks ago, violated a 2011 agreement with regulators. Under that agreement, the social network is required to get the explicit consent of its users before exposing their private information to new audiences.
Facebook’s new policies make clear that users are required to grant the company wide permission to use their personal information in advertising as a condition of using the service.
Facebook says the language was in part required by a federal court. In August, a judge approved some of the wording as part of a settlement in a class-action suit brought by users upset at seeing their names and photos used to endorse products in Facebook ads sent to their friends.
Peter Kaplan, a spokesman for the F.T.C., said on Wednesday that Facebook was subject to continuing oversight by the commission because of the consent order.
“Facebook never sought out a discussion with us beforehand about these proposed changes,” he said. “We’re monitoring compliance with the order. Part of that involves interacting with Facebook.”
Facebook informed the F.T.C. of the new language just before it was posted to its Web site. It said its new policies complied with the 2011 F.T.C. order as well as the separate 2013 class-action settlement.
The Menlo Park, Calif., company was supposed to make the update to its policy last week but delayed the decision after a coalition of six consumer watchdog groups asked the FTC to block the changes. The watchdogs say the changes would make it far easier for the company to use the names, images and personal information of its nearly 1.2 billion users -- including teens -- to endorse products in ads without their consent.
"We routinely discuss policy updates with the FTC, and this time is no different," Facebook said in an emailed statement. "Importantly, our updated policies do not grant Facebook any additional rights to use consumer information in advertising. Rather, the new policies further clarify and explain our existing practices. We take these issues very seriously and are confident that our policies are fully compliant with our agreement with the FTC."
Facebook contends it must change the language in its policy to comply with a judge's order in the settlement of a class-action lawsuit brought by consumers who were angry their names and photos were used to endorse products in ads on Facebook.
Pressure mounted on Facebook on Wednesday after Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) sent a letter to the FTC saying the proposed changes "raise a number of questions about whether Facebook is improperly altering its privacy policy without proper user consent."
Facebook reached a settlement with the FTC in 2011 after it was alleged the company violated users' privacy when it changed default settings to make more of their information public.
"We are glad to hear that the FTC is looking at Facebook's proposed privacy changes more closely," said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, one of the groups protesting the changes. "Users, not Facebook, should decide for themselves how their personal information is used."
Source : NY TIMES, CNET, LA TIMES
The Federal Trade Commission said on Wednesday that it had begun an inquiry into whether the social network’s proposed new privacy policies, unveiled two weeks ago, violated a 2011 agreement with regulators. Under that agreement, the social network is required to get the explicit consent of its users before exposing their private information to new audiences.
Facebook’s new policies make clear that users are required to grant the company wide permission to use their personal information in advertising as a condition of using the service.
Facebook says the language was in part required by a federal court. In August, a judge approved some of the wording as part of a settlement in a class-action suit brought by users upset at seeing their names and photos used to endorse products in Facebook ads sent to their friends.
Peter Kaplan, a spokesman for the F.T.C., said on Wednesday that Facebook was subject to continuing oversight by the commission because of the consent order.
“Facebook never sought out a discussion with us beforehand about these proposed changes,” he said. “We’re monitoring compliance with the order. Part of that involves interacting with Facebook.”
Facebook informed the F.T.C. of the new language just before it was posted to its Web site. It said its new policies complied with the 2011 F.T.C. order as well as the separate 2013 class-action settlement.
The Menlo Park, Calif., company was supposed to make the update to its policy last week but delayed the decision after a coalition of six consumer watchdog groups asked the FTC to block the changes. The watchdogs say the changes would make it far easier for the company to use the names, images and personal information of its nearly 1.2 billion users -- including teens -- to endorse products in ads without their consent.
"We routinely discuss policy updates with the FTC, and this time is no different," Facebook said in an emailed statement. "Importantly, our updated policies do not grant Facebook any additional rights to use consumer information in advertising. Rather, the new policies further clarify and explain our existing practices. We take these issues very seriously and are confident that our policies are fully compliant with our agreement with the FTC."
Facebook contends it must change the language in its policy to comply with a judge's order in the settlement of a class-action lawsuit brought by consumers who were angry their names and photos were used to endorse products in ads on Facebook.
Pressure mounted on Facebook on Wednesday after Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) sent a letter to the FTC saying the proposed changes "raise a number of questions about whether Facebook is improperly altering its privacy policy without proper user consent."
Facebook reached a settlement with the FTC in 2011 after it was alleged the company violated users' privacy when it changed default settings to make more of their information public.
"We are glad to hear that the FTC is looking at Facebook's proposed privacy changes more closely," said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, one of the groups protesting the changes. "Users, not Facebook, should decide for themselves how their personal information is used."
Source : NY TIMES, CNET, LA TIMES
Facebook's proposed privacy policy changes face FTC review
Reviewed by Ankit Kumar Titoriya
on
04:23
Rating:
Reviewed by Ankit Kumar Titoriya
on
04:23
Rating:
No comments: