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Facebook Settles With FTC, Admits Privacy Violations

Posted by Soulskill on from the present-your-wrist-for-a-slapping dept.

Animats writes "Facebook has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it deceived consumers by telling them they could keep their information on Facebook private, and then repeatedly allowing it to be shared and made public. The settlement is soft on Facebook; there are no fines or criminal penalties. According to the FTC, in December 2009, Facebook 'changed its website so certain information that users may have designated as private – such as their Friends List – was made public. Facebook didn't warn users that this change was coming, or get their approval in advance.' Among the other complaints (PDF), 'Facebook represented that third-party apps that users' installed would have access only to user information that they needed to operate. In fact, the apps could access nearly all of users' personal data – data the apps didn't need.'" The settlement demands that Facebook avoid any new deceptive privacy claims, and also that users must give explicit permission for changes to be made to their privacy preferences. Facebook will be audited every two years for the next two decades to make sure they're holding up their end of the settlement. In a lengthy statement on Facebook's blog, Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged that they'd made mistakes.

5 of 138 comments (clear)

  1. Facebook is evil and parasitic by arcite · · Score: 1, Informative

    When will people get it?

    1. Re:Facebook is evil and parasitic by epine · · Score: 3, Informative

      Chums, chumettes, and granfallooners.

  2. Re:Mixed Feelings. by msauve · · Score: 4, Informative

    "Facebook is based in Ireland"

    Huh? No, they're not, although they could certainly have a subsidiary incorporated there.

    --
    "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
  3. Re:An interesting penalty... by CmdrPony · · Score: 3, Informative

    Facebook didn't break the law, and FTC isn't a law enforcement agency. They just broke practices FTC didn't like, and as FTC still does have some saying (just because of their standing), Facebook agreed to such settlement. Settlement.

  4. Re:Mixed Feelings. by E+IS+mC(Square) · · Score: 3, Informative

    Almost every human on planet = roughly 6 billion people (out of 6.7 billion estimated)

    so 0.8 billion is almost same as 6 billion. Things you learn on slashdot these days.