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Canadian Group Files Facebook Privacy Complaint
bergkamp writes "A Canadian public policy group filed a complaint charging Facebook with 22 separate violations of a Canadian personal information protection law. The Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic, based at the University of Ottawa, asked the Privacy Commissioner of Canada to investigate what it describes as Facebook's failure to inform members (PDF) how their personal information is disclosed to third parties for advertising and other commercial purposes. The complaint also alleges that Facebook has failed to obtain permission from members for disclosure of their personal information. The claim is that that Facebook violates the Canadian Personal Information Protection and Electronics Documents Act, which Philippa Lawson, the clinic's director, said is much stricter than US personal information protection laws."
I wasn't aware that Facebook operated in Canada.
Interested in open source engine management for your Subaru?
Facebook is free, and it's not mandatory.
It should be obvious to anyone with a level of intelligence higher then a chimp that Facebook shares information, it's an information sharing site!
If you don't like it, don't use it.
A learning experience is one of those things that say, 'You know that thing you just did? Don't do that.' - D. Adams
privacy, you are doing it wrong.
Monstar L
Aside from medical records and IRS records, I wasn't aware that we actually had any personal information protection laws.
I've just got addicted to Facebook after months of my girlfriend nagging that she wanted to have "xxx is in a relationship with yyy" on her profile.
I've actually been very impressed with the level of privacy controls.
I'm a school teacher and have my collegues and students blocked from certain areas that only my close friends can access.
I can change what data applications can access, and edit it at a later date, and there is plenty of explanation of what will be shared.
Compare this to most sites with a simple "We will share your info, OK?" box, and I think Facebook should be commended for giving users this level of control over their data.
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AC and considering your slant, I'll assume a Facebook shill, in my opinion.
"I've just got addicted to Facebook after months of my girlfriend nagging"
Friend, you've no balls, and frankly you're the type who would likely be easily fucked via social engineering.
"I've actually been very impressed with the level of privacy controls."
You're probably easily fooled, see above.
"I'm a school teacher and have my collegues and students blocked from certain areas that only my close friends can access."
First, most school teachers I've met are horribly backwards when it comes to being tech savvy, I'm surprised you found Slashdot, though from reading your post you sound like a Facebook shill so I'm probably wasting my time replying. If it's online, your control over your privacy is an illusion, especially with sites like Facebook.
"I can change what data applications can access, and edit it at a later date, and there is plenty of explanation of what will be shared."
If it's online, eventually it will ALL be shared one way or another, unless it's encrypted with proper security procedures/methods followed by the book, and even then social engineering is at play among other things.
"Compare this to most sites with a simple "We will share your info, OK?" box, and I think Facebook should be commended for giving users this level of control over their data."
Get this through your thick fucking skull: If it's online, YOU have NO CONTROL, only the illusion of control.
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The issue in it is that Facebook's actual privacy implementation is significantly worse than what its privacy statement implies. If you knew the Facebook sells your personal information to 3rd parties, and that 3rd parties submit your external facebook activities to Facebook, would you sign up in the first place?
I am defenseless. Use your button. Mod me down with all of your hatred.
I am assuming this will hit the flametard mods. :)
However, as being a Canadian, who feels reasonably well informed. I also did read the article, it did make sense.
The laws are there to make for disclosure. Which according to many on this site, and others is a good thing. How many times is the battle cry 'how come they didn't open up this standard '.
I would rather have this sort of law pushed internationally instead of that dread dmca, as well as many other entertainment industry issues, as well as setting international trade policies.
At least this law is for the people.
This is the same law that people are using to smack Bell with. Many people seemed to think that was also a good thing. In fact I believe that CPPIC was the same group that also lobbied the crtc with CAIP.
I also for one would be using this law if I found out that some company decided to loose my credit card information. I think a few million dollars would do nicely to appease my pain and suffering.
I have mod points and I am not afraid to use them.
Here's one extract: When Facebook collects non-Usersâ(TM) email addresses to send them invitations to Facebook, it collects this personal information from parties other than the individual in question. By retaining
such email addresses for its own purposes, Facebook is violating the âoeknowledge and consentâ principle outlined in Principle 4.3.3 of PIPEDA by not informing the individual why his or her email address is kept. The non-User has not consented to this retention of information, and is most likely unaware that it is taking place. The non-User only receives an automated email from
their friend via Facebook, which encourages the individual to join the Network. The email gives no indication to the receiver that their information will now be kept on file or that they must contact Facebook directly to remove themselves from the list. Furthermore, if the individual has received more than one invitation to join Facebook, all past invitations will reappear on the new invitation. This is a clear example of how Facebook retains non-Userâ(TM)s information.
Facebook is not a good site for the privacy concious. My friend always maintained that the one thing that orwell didn't forsee is that people would pay for and maintain their own cameras.
"Physics is to math as sex is to masturbation." -R. Feynman
In Soviet Russia, privacy compromises you.
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The issue of whether there should be "opt in" or "opt out" privacy terms is critical. The use of "opt in" contractual terms promotes companies providing more carrots to get a bite from you.
I'm surprised that its also impossible to leave facebook and have your details deleted, without contacting them directly and then there's about 100 step process in order to get shot of it.
Your definition of need and mine differ dramatically.
It's a simple matter of complex programming.
I don't really understand this. Is any part of Facebook based in Canada? If not, how are they subject to our tighter privacy laws?
I can't see how they would be.
It's easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them.
and why should Facebook tell you what they are doing? That would give away a competitive edge.
Stupid Canadians are so un-American.
The is a reasonably good video on FaceBook's privacy policy
If this 'noise' becomes a problem for Facebook Inc. I suspect the simplest solution for them will be to simply lock out Canada. The market here in Canada is pretty small (population 33 million) and probably not really worth the effort. You could just say that in we're 'not accepting new users from Canada and in 90 days all Canadian accounts will be deleted.'
It was always the information collected from other users that bothered me about Facebook. I signed up briefly in the early days, keen to see what all the fuss was about. Despite deliberately giving them almost no personal information about me, within a few days they practically had half my life story, generously volunteered by my friends with no doubt the best of intentions but certainly not my permission or consent. I deleted my account soon after joining, only to discover later that they don't really delete the information anyway.
There doesn't seem to be much point suggesting on Slashdot that this is unreasonable, maybe even dangerous, behaviour, though: last time I just got heavily down-modded and told I should read some Ts&Cs page on an obscure URL that I was supposed to have found before signing up (which, as far as I could tell, was not even available to non-users at the time). I guess "information wants to be free" mentality trumps "identity theft can ruin your life" and "privacy is important" around here. :-(
If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
Blotkis is not concerned.
FUCK OFF!!! I have no operations in your country and you have no legal recourse in mine.
Sincerely,
Your AMERICAN Neighbor (NOT Neighbour) to the south The Facebook.
I know many people are going to say well...it's the users choice to paste their pictures or write about their life, or sign up to applications...so it's their responsibility/fault.
:P
However, there is nothing wrong with having a commission look at facebook. I hope as a productive force, as opposed to a legal force. By that I mean a commission to look at how facebook can improve privacy/protect citizens, as opposed to finding a way to sue it.
Maybe we need to change the default options for some parts of facebook.
Maybe the default security options for external applications can change?
Maybe you should be able to use an alias for 3rd party applications.
Maybe we need to look at the social consequence of idiots posting embarrassing photos or videos of other people? How should facebook handle that?
Facebook really is pretty different as most people actually use their real names and people seem to be putting in their real information. I try to limit it (no address/phone numbers...), but others might not be as careful. It's definitely worth looking into. Again not to shutdown or sue facebook, but to improve it from a public policy/safety standpoint..
and to help all those men/women caught cheating on their gfs by posted photos or wall posts
I don't think they will have standing because Facebook operates under U.S. rules.
There is no "-1 offended" or "-1 you don't agree with me" mod options for a reason.
Facebook users do not have to be passive about privacy. To deter employers from viewing social networking pages, employees might post terms of service under which employers agree to scram. This idea should not be taken as legal advice, just something to think about. --Ben http://hack-igations.blogspot.com/2007/11/privacy-advocates-such-as-nyu-professor.html
Benjamin Wright, Dallas, Texas, benjaminwright.us
insightful?
knuckle-dragger mods...
Point of fact, Facebook does NOT have offices in Canada. They have offices in Palo Alto, London (UK), NewYork, Los Angeles, etc. But, not one in Canada. Therefore, they are not bound by Canadian law. Quite frankly, as a Canadian, I encourage Facebook to tell these nut jobs to go f**k themselves.
As an aside, this is what happens when Conservatives are in power, and education takes a downturn. No offence to the US people here, but, this is just an indication that we are well on our way down the path to where you guys are. Time to start wacking people with clue sticks...
I can personally attest that it's not just Facebook that's violating my Constitutional RIGHTS.
And as a dual citizen living in the USA, under NAFTA, I never gave up my rights by living here either, under the treaty.
Which, as any educated American knows, supercede any Congressional laws, as treaties are a higher law.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
I'm on so much stuff now I can't think anymore!
~ Artificial Intelligence is better than none! ~
Even if Facebook is an American company, it still has to abide by Canadian rules - there's no way around it. Nafta, remember, puts companies on equal footing and they cannot hide behind their borders. Also, Facebook has specific offerings for Canadian audiences, such as French Canadian Facebook - Much of the advertising that Facebook serves to Canadians are from Canadian companies. It's easy to argue that Facebook created product features specifically for Canadians. If Facebook can take money from Canadian advertisers, in Canadian dollars, it cannot claim that it doesn't have to abide to Canadian laws... Facebook's lawyers probably know this and that's why they denied all the charges. They know that if the Canadian Privacy Commission finds them guilty of something, they will have to abide and change their offerings to Canadians, or ban them outright.
Other companies, ban Canadians from accessing their servers. For example, you can't watch Desperate Housewives from ABC.com, if you come from Canada. So for all those saying Facebook doesn't have to abide to Canadian privacy laws, well, they have to, and so does any company US or foreign that allow Canadians to access its servers. I expect other big Web sites to be next in line to be forced to update their privacy procedures to Canada's standards.