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Canadian Group Files Facebook Privacy Complaint

Posted by kdawson on from the up-here-it's-opt-in-eh dept.

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."

21 of 128 comments (clear)

  1. That's nice, and all by bconway · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I wasn't aware that Facebook operated in Canada.

    --
    Interested in open source engine management for your Subaru?
    1. Re:That's nice, and all by value_added · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Borders are a thing of the past.

      LOL.

      Be sure to email Lou Dobbs in case he didn't get the memo.

      While you're at it, be sure to mention that you've found the solution to end all wars, territorial disputes, and cure the rising tide of nationalism in Russia, China, Kossovo and ... well, just about everywhere, and that fans attending football matches the world over can now settle down and share a quiet cup of tea.

    2. Re:That's nice, and all by sm62704 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Borders are a thing of the past.

      Tell that to the Missouri Highway Patol when you cross the Mississippi river from Illinois on your motorcycle when you're not wearning a helmet.

      Yes, borders are a thing of the past. They're also a thing of the present and a thing of the future.

      If Facebook has offices in Canada, servers in Canada, or workers who live in Canada then Canada has a valid point. If not then Facebook can tell Canada to fuck off.

      --
      mcgrew's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be explained by greedy self-interest
    3. Re:That's nice, and all by mwilliamson · · Score: 2, Insightful
      So, need I actually abide by laws of other countries if my Website is hosted in the USA and I am a citizen of the USA living in the USA? If so, which countries? What happens if I don't and just ignore their BMCing.

      My blogsite allows user registration and such. I really don't care to become a legal expert in foreign law as the US laws are complex enough. Actually, I don't really give a rats *ss about any foreign governments toes I just happen step on.

      -Michael

    4. Re:That's nice, and all by mrbluze · · Score: 4, Insightful

      LOL. In this context (legal action against a website which has a multinational presence), it is becoming more and more apparent that governments don't care where the website comes from. Sure there still are nominal borders but it's not like you can throw rubbish over the neighbour's fence and get away with it so easily on the Internet.
      --
      Do it yourself, because no one else will do it yourself. [beta blockade 10-17 Feb]
    5. Re:That's nice, and all by CodeBuster · · Score: 3, Insightful

      it is becoming more and more apparent that governments don't care where the website comes from. They might not like it, but there is not much that they can do about it unless they want to cut off trade, end normalized diplomatic relations, or go to war (not really a viable option anymore these days). They can block the website in question, but that will probably be the end of it.

      but it's not like you can throw rubbish over the neighbour's fence and get away with it so easily on the Internet. Sure you can. What are they going to do about it? Facebook is an American corporation with (as far as I know) no business operations in Canada. The Facebook executives just have to avoid entering Canada personally and never invest any capital there. The De Beers diamond cartel thumbed its nose at the United States for decades in just this way and their executives simply avoided visiting the United States. Canada can try and block Facebook, ala the great firewall of China, but that is about it.
    6. Re:That's nice, and all by jo42 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Borders, that is nations, states, etc. are all people-made creations.

      What people can, in their capacity for infinite stupidity, make, they can, in their capacity for reasonable amounts of wisdom, unmake.

    7. Re:That's nice, and all by 1u3hr · · Score: 2, Insightful
      So, need I actually abide by laws of other countries if my Website is hosted in the USA and I am a citizen of the USA living in the USA? If so, which countries? What happens if I don't and just ignore their BMCing.

      Nothing will happen to you. Unless, like Facebook, you have 7 million members in Canada, take advertising money from Canadian customers and thus have millions of dollars in cashflow passing through Canadian banks, then you might have to take notice if you break laws relating to how you use the information you get from these Canadians.

  2. I don't get it by thermian · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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
  3. If you are on facebook and are concerned about by antifoidulus · · Score: 4, Insightful

    privacy, you are doing it wrong.

    --
    Monstar L
    1. Re:If you are on facebook and are concerned about by SBacks · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Facebook is great for keeping up to date on all those people from your past that you care enough to know what they're up to, but not enough to actually talk to them. High school classmates, ex-girlfriends, etc.

      It's the new equivalent of "Hey, did you hear x got married?"

    2. Re:If you are on facebook and are concerned about by BForrester · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Excuse the blatant stereotyping for the purposes of making an analogy:

      If a white person goes for a stroll through Harlem wearing an "I hate black people" t-shirt, and gets shot, that makes him a moron. And dead.

      It doesn't mean that the shooter has a license to kill because of the victim's idiocy.

  4. Re:Wrong Target by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ...after months of my girlfriend nagging that she wanted to have "xxx is in a relationship with yyy" on her profile. Dude. Just fucking run... NOW!

    Anyone who nags you to get a Facebook account just so she can say she's dating you... oh, forget it. It's far too early to start having this conversation.

  5. Crazy by hairykrishna · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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
    1. Re:Crazy by CodeBuster · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It is ironic isn't it that during the Cold War the Soviet block governments employed armies of agents to compile and maintain paper dossiers on their citizens (particularly in the former East Germany) and now people do the government's work for them by posting every detail of their lives on websites where any intelligence agency can easily find them. The kids who are doing this are apparently completely naïve about the possible long term consequences of what they are doing.

  6. Promoting 'opt in' privacy provisions in contracts by GlowingWhispers · · Score: 2, Insightful

    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.

  7. I am canadian but.. by anethema · · Score: 2, Insightful

    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.
  8. Just cut out Canada... by CohibaVancouver · · Score: 2, Insightful

    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.'

    1. Re:Just cut out Canada... by CohibaVancouver · · Score: 2, Insightful
      I'm not sure Facebook would lock up 10% of its user bas.

      "Facebook [...] has around 70 million registered users worldwide - including around seven million Canadians."

      The math is more complicated than that, though. If the 7M hoseheads are high school kids with no spending power, or users that log in infrequently, then their value goes down - You can't just base it on numbers. My wife is a Canadian Facebook user who hasn't logged in in 2 months.

    2. Re:Just cut out Canada... by vajaradakini · · Score: 2, Insightful

      And how many users from other countries log in infrequently?

      Furthermore, how do you determine which users are Canadians? If I leave all my networks, I could be living anywhere in the world. If you go by IP addresses you'll be eliminating people who are just living in or visiting Canada, but not Canadians living or visiting abroad.

      --
      what's that now?
  9. Re:Leaveing Facebook by thermian · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I'm surprised that its also impossible to leave facebook and have your details deleted

    When I'm going to leave it I'll just change the data first to nonsense, leave it for a few weeks to make sure it filters through the system, and then disable my account.

    Not that I've ever put any really private stuff there.

    --
    A learning experience is one of those things that say, 'You know that thing you just did? Don't do that.' - D. Adams