VoIP In Detail covers everything related to VOIP, software, hardware, service providers, reviews, configurations, standards, tips & tricks and everything else related to voice over IP networks, IP telephony and Internet Telephony. Facebook’s privacy problem is getting worse. Not only is the dominant social-networking company facing ongoing resistance to new privacy controls from users and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), but now it faces a Federal Trade Commission complaint filed by the Washington, D.C.-based Electronic Privacy Information Center.
Facebook recently rolled out a new privacy protocol that it promoted as giving users more control over privacy settings. With the controls, users can decide whether to make certain aspects of their Facebook profiles publicly available on the Internet, or only available to friends.
Rollback Demanded
But the controls were limited, and certain elements, such as the friends list, were made public by default. As originally released, users had no way to change that setting. After a swell of criticism, Facebook allowed users to make their friends list private.
Another complaint was that too much information was made public by default. The EFF complained that users who didn’t get around to changing the defaults or who didn’t understand the implications would be injured by the new policy.
In its complaint, EPIC formally requested that the FTC investigate Facebook, enjoin “its unfair and deceptive business practices,” and require Facebook to protect users’ privacy. Specifically, EPIC asked the FTC to require Facebook to restore the previous privacy settings, allowing users to control disclosure of personal information and to fully opt out of revealing information to third-party developers. EPIC also demanded that Facebook make its data-collection practices clearer and easier to understand.
Third-Party Dangers
EPIC took special aim at the dangers in allowing third-party developers automatic access to much of a user’s personal information. Facebook permits third-party applications to access user information at the moment a user visits an application web site. According to Facebook, third-party applications receive publicly available information automatically, and additional information when users authorize it or connect a Facebook account.
EPIC…
Read more:
FTC Complaint Escalates Facebook’s Privacy Woes
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