Facebook forced to settle with FTC over consumer privacy mistakes

Lee Bell
November 30, 2011
1 Comment

facebook privacyFacebook, Facebook, Facebook – some might say it’s taken over our lives. With our recent poll results suggesting 70% of you check your social media sites such as Facebook regularly throughout the day, it only goes to show that it’s a prevalent facet that isn’t going to pipe down any time soon.

But if it’s going to integrate into our daily lives, it’s only right that it minds its own business when it comes to our private information. And that’s a problem Facebook was faced with today, when it was forced to reach a deal with the Federal Trade Commission after creator Mark Zuckerberg owned up to “high profile mistakes”.

In a press release on the commision’s website, the regulators claim Facebook had “deceived consumers by telling them they could keep their information on Facebook private, and then repeatedly allowing it to be shared and made public”.

Here is the eight-count complaint that the regulators had against Facebook:

  • With no warning, in December 2009, Facebook changed its website so certain private information was made public.
  • Facebook represented that third-party apps that users installed would have access only to user information that they needed to operate but  the apps could actually access nearly all of users’ personal data.
  • It told users they could restrict sharing of data to limited audiences – for example with “Friends Only.” But nope, this was a lie.
  • Facebook had a “Verified Apps” program & claimed it certified the security of participating apps. It didn’t.
  • It promised users that it would not share their personal information with advertisers. It did.
  • It claimed that when users deactivated or deleted their accounts, their photos and videos would be inaccessible. But naughty Facebook allowed this.
  • Facebook also claimed that it complied with the U.S. EU Safe Harbor Framework that governs data transfer between the U.S. and the European Union. Guess what…It didn’t.

Zuckerberg didn’t contest and admitted to the charges of “unfair and deceptive” practices. In the Facebook blog, he added: “I founded Facebook on the idea that people want to share and connect with people in their lives, but to do this everyone needs complete control over who they share with at all times.”

The proposed settlement now requires that Facebook takes several steps to make sure it lives up to its promises in the future, i.e. no more lies, dude! This includes giving consumers “clear and prominent notice” and “obtaining consumers’ express consent” before  it goes and flashes people’s private and sensitive information to every Tom, Dick and Harry on the interweb.

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Tags: Article, Facebook, FTC, Privacy
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