Facebook privacy policy shift fires critics

Facebook privacy policy shift fires critics
By David Gelles in San Francisco
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010
Published: March 26 2010 23:17 | Last updated: March 26 2010 23:17
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/685aef6e-3929-11df-8970-00144feabdc0.html


Facebook on Friday announced another round of changes to its privacy policy, including amendments that could allow the site to share user information automatically with third-party websites.

Certain websites could soon be “pre-approved” by Facebook, so that if a user is logged into Facebook and then visits the third-party website, it would receive information including the “names, profile pictures, gender, user IDs, connections and any content shared using the Everyone privacy setting” of a user and his or her friends.

The sites might be able to retain that information “to the extent permitted under their terms of service or privacy policies”.

Facebook said it would introduce the feature with a small group of partners and offer new controls for users to opt out.

However, the company could face resistance by users and advocates who see such a move as another invasion of privacy.

The reaction from advocacy groups in Washington was prompt.

“They’re pushing the envelope, which they continue to do,” Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said.

“The problem is that Facebook is choosing what data fall into the ‘everyone’ category and then how to use it. That sounds like an awful lot of control.”

EPIC filed a complaint with the US Federal Trade Commission last year after Facebook changed policies that automatically made more user information publicly available.

Mr Rotenberg said on Friday EPIC was considering filing another complaint or amending the existing one.

In January David Vladeck, head of the FTC’s bureau of consumer protection, said the complaint raised “issues of particular interest for us at this time.

“As the amount of personal information shared on social networking sites grows, and the number of third-party companies and advertising networks with access to such information grows, it is important that consumers understand how their data are being shared and what privacy rules apply.”

Facebook most recently updated its privacy policy in December.

That set of revisions included changes that encouraged users to make more personal data public to the entire internet.

The changes met resistance from users and advocates.

Friday’s changes, along with those in December, are part of a strategy to make Facebook more ubiquitous around the web.

By making more of the information from its 400m users publicly available, Facebook is positioning itself to be a searchable index of identities, preferences and trends.

By allowing users to log into other sites using their Facebook identity, the company is seeking to be something of a passport for users as they travel around the web.

Facebook acknowledges that it has little control over how third parties use the personal data it provides.

“We do not own or run the applications and websites you interact with through Facebook Platform,” it said in a document posted last year.

“While we try to enforce standards to protect your information, we cannot guarantee they will follow our rules.”