EPIC Targets Facebook
The Electronic Privacy Information Center and nine other privacy and consumer groups filed a complaint Thursday with the FTC urging the agency to open an investigation against Facebook, saying its new privacy settings violate consumer protection law. Facebook last week formally rolled out what it described as "easy-to-use" tools to help users gain better control of content on their Facebook pages and allow users to control who sees each piece of content they add.
EPIC, joined by the Consumer Federation of America, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse and others, claimed the changes Facebook made such as requiring users to go through a "transition tool" before accessing their account allow for far more user information to become publicly available, including to third-party application developers.
Facebook issued a statement defending its privacy tools, saying it had talked with "dozens of organizations around the world about the recent changes and we're disappointed that EPIC has chosen to share their concerns with the FTC while refusing to talk to us about them. ... We have gone to great lengths to inform users about our platform changes, beginning with our July announcement; founder Mark Zuckerberg's open letter to our 350 million users; our robust press and analyst outreach; the notice-and-comment framework for our new privacy policy; and simple customization tools for users."
Jules Polonetsky, director of the Future of Pirvacy Forum, a data privacy think tank that receives financial support from Facebook and other firms, said in a blog post that it is important for Facebook to respond to user input about the new privacy tools. "The key question is whether users are aware of the settings and whether they are using them," he said. "So far, many users seem to be aware of the changes and are adjusting the privacy controls as they see fit."
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