Facebook settles with FTC re: privacy

[Ronja]

On the surface this looks good, but what is deeper down? I gotta work now, so I'll not be digging into this within the next few hours - if anyone else sees some useful analysis, I would be grateful for a link.

The settlement tentatively requires Facebook to stop sharing user information with advertisers without consent and to undergo two decades of privacy audits every two years, among other drastic measures designed to reign-in the world’s largest social network’s treatment of user information and communication with users.

And the FTC didn’t let Facebook off easy, either, giving the company a stern warning about any future privacy violations, noting that Facebook could be fined up to $16,000 per violation if it doesn’t comply with the terms of the settlement.

The 8-count complaint posted by the FTC blatantly calls Facebook’s privacy policy and practices “unfair and deceptive,” saying that Facebook’s user privacy controls (or privacy settings) gave the impression that a user could restrict their information to “Friends” or “Friends of Friends,” when in fact, third-party applications could still access their information.

In addition, the complaint document blasts the world’s largest social network for sharing identifying user information with advertisers even when Facebook claimed it wasn’t, and for allowing access to deactivated user photos and videos.

More here: http://idealab.talkingpointsmemo.com/20 ... arning.php

[Schneibster]

Why I'm not on Facebook. I figured y'all knew what you were giving away.

[Schneibster]

The shiznit.