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Deutsch: Facebook unter Druck: Datenschutzrichtlinien werden nicht eingehalten
Macedonian: Фејсбук под притисок поради непочитув...
The recent changes of Facebook's privacy settings have attracted a lot of negative comments from regular users, but also from Data Protection authorities and NGOs.
In a public letter, the Article 29 Working Party, the group of European data protection authorities, has bluntly accused Facebook for its data protection practices, calling "unacceptable that the company fundamentally changed the default settings on its social-networking platform to the detriment of a user."
The 75th plenary session of the Working Party has also addressed letters to the 20 social network operators that have signed the "Safer Networking Principles for the EU " asking them for a "a default setting in which access to the profile information and information about the connections of a user is limited to self-selected contacts. Any further access, such as by search engines, should be an explicit choice of the user." The letters also included the issues of the third-party application providers of social network services and of third persons contained in users' profiles.
On a different level, Trans Atlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD), a coalition of U.S. and European consumer advocacy groups has adopted a new resolution criticizing the U.S. and European governments for failing to protect social network users from privacy and marketing abuses. "Social networks are like virtual homes for millions of people, but they are being invaded by data miners and marketers seeking to capitalize on information that users never intended to provide to strangers," said Susan Grant, co-chair of the TACD Information Society Policy Committee. The resolution calls for the U.S. and EU governments to prohibit social networks from targeting advertisements to children under 16 and to bar them from using online marketing practices that studies show can have a negative impact on individuals, particularly children - for instance, digital marketing of products that contribute to childhood obesity.
Facebook is trying to redeem its respect, by publicly answering questions posted to New York Times in relation with these new privacy concerns and even leaking some information that they are working again on "its privacy options".
But the current answers are flatly contradicting its own stated Principles on privacy, as EDRi-member Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) explains: "Facebook wrote these Principles and designed them to not only reassure its users, but to give itself wiggle room for the future. It is a carefully drafted document, and Facebook has no excuse not to live up to the minimum standards it set out for itself. If Facebook wants to regain the trust of its users, following its own principles would be a good place to start."
Article 29 Data Protection Working Party: European data protection group faults Facebook for privacy setting change (12.05.2010) http://ec.europa.eu/justice_home/fsj/privacy/news/docs/pr_12_05_10_en....
TACD: US/EU Consumer Advocates Demand Strong Rules to Protect Privacy and
Security of Social Network Users (05.2010)
http://tacd.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=161&...
TACD: Resolution on Social Networking (05.2010)
http://tacd.org/index2.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_view&gid...
Facebook Executive Answers Reader Questions (11.05.2010)
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/11/facebook-executive-answers-re...
Facebook Should Follow Its Own Principles (13.05.2010)
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/05/facebook-should-follow
Updated: Facebook Further Reduces Your Control Over Personal Information
(19.04.2010)
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/04/facebook-further-reduces-control-...
Facebook to simplify privacy settings in response to backlash (18.05.2010)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/techchron/detail?&entry_id=638...