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http://europe-v-facebook.org/

Lazy submitter, bad editor, silly techweek for omitting it...

Have a look at this then http://europe-v-facebook.org/EN/Data_Pool/data_pool.html

As it has been proven that Safe Harbour really isn't, any EU organisation that uses a US data provider is potentially on their way to a violation of Data Protection.

Not that that matters much, the Irish Data Protection people have already shown comprehensively that that isn't a real problem :)

I get this sense that more and more of public communication takes places through channels that can arbitrarily impose their rules, mood or insanity on this communication through what amounts to uncontrolled censorship.

Of course, you agree to that when you decide to participate (usually also to the ritual slaughtering of your first born when you properly read the T&Cs) but at a certain volume you start wondering if you're not dealing with something that massively impacts the common good without any control on their behaviour whatsoever.

Facebook is in this respect also a classic - the latest Data Protection saga shows clearly that it does not want to even create the impression it is bound to any laws, and sadly the regulator in question is helping..

http://europe-v-facebook.org/EN/en.html Lets face it social networks are scum. I do not do face palm, twitter or any other social networking sites. It is better for you not to follow the sheep for publicity use either as an individual or a business.

The best overview of Social Networks based on my life experience of well over 40 years, is simply like real life friends and so called friends. When you have money, a nice car, a nice house etc people want to know you. The same if you are famous. When all your money and fame disappears, so do the "flies around shit" and you are only left with a handful of true friends :)

Just like politicians and most media; they will run from one "Crisis to the next". Once you can get your mind around that truth... truly it really does help you feel more at peace with yourself and others.

It seems the EU believes that some social network practices are hostile to its citizens and I can hardly disagree. Remember those complaints to fb from that group of Austrian students? It's an interesting reading for anybody who designs any service handling customer data (basically all of them).

"Data like the biometrical information or ”likes” are seen at trade secret, intellectual property or are simply too complicated to send to users according to Facebook."

It raises the question whether it's reasonable to request from them information such as your "likes". It sounds to me like asking a company to hand you over a log with your phone calls and email exchanges; I don't think they have that obligation.

Keeping deleted messages might indeed not be legal, see the Deleted Postings complaint in http://europe-v-facebook.org/EN/Complaints/complaints.html

Complaint 02 is about shadow profiles for non-users.

I don't see why you couldn't request it, except that you (going by your journal) are American, so the Irish/European data protection laws don't apply.

(It's interesting that the data is provided for free. British companies are allowed to make a "reasonable charge" for providing the personal data, which is almost always £10.)