Facebook settles with FTC, under privacy watch for 20 years
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Re: Facebook settles with FTC, under privacy watch for 20 years
#2Wow, this list is brutal:
-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. They didn't warn users that this change was coming, or get their approval in advance.
- 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.
- Facebook told users they could restrict sharing of data to limited audiences – for example with "Friends Only." In fact, selecting "Friends Only" did not prevent their information from being shared with third-party applications their friends used.
- Facebook had a "Verified Apps" program & claimed it certified the security of participating apps. It didn't.
- Facebook promised users that it would not share their personal information with advertisers. It did.
- Facebook claimed that when users deactivated or deleted their accounts, their photos and videos would be inaccessible. But Facebook allowed access to the content, even after users had deactivated or deleted their accounts.
- Facebook claimed that it complied with the U.S.- EU Safe Harbor Framework that governs data transfer between the U.S. and the European Union. It didn't.
Re: Facebook settles with FTC, under privacy watch for 20 years
#3I never understood why bodies like the FTC rely on 'independent, third-party audits' for enforcement, since they end up making the entire action pointless.
The independent third-party auditor will give Facebook a stamp of approval, both in the next 180 days and every two years thereafter, because the independent third-party auditor wants the repeat business.
Same thing goes for any regulation that depends on a third party, really. I mean, over the last six years how often is a 409a valuation not to the board's liking? Somehow, magically, the auditors collect their fees from the company and then independently deliver an acceptable answer.
Might as well not have the regulations - or just fine the company something meaningful - instead of engaging in this goofy kabuki theatre.
Re: Facebook settles with FTC, under privacy watch for 20 years
#4The best part is when you get to the footer and see:
"Like the FTC on Facebook".
Re: Facebook settles with FTC, under privacy watch for 20 years
#5Wow, this list is brutal: -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. They didn't warn users that this change was coming, or get their approval in advance. - Facebook represented that third-party apps that users' installed would have access only to user information that they needed to operate. In fact,…
I remember very well when the first one happened. It pissed me off because someone got to see some information I thought was private after I went to the trouble of going through Facebook's previous 50 privacy settings.
Re: Facebook settles with FTC, under privacy watch for 20 years
#6Wow, this list is brutal: -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. They didn't warn users that this change was coming, or get their approval in advance. - Facebook represented that third-party apps that users' installed would have access only to user information that they needed to operate. In fact,…
This sentence: "including giving consumers clear and prominent notice and obtaining consumers' express consent before their information is shared beyond the privacy settings they have established" was the killer to me. It forces FB to much more transparent about what it does with data and could have a significant shift in its revenue model.
Re: Facebook settles with FTC, under privacy watch for 20 years
#7Wow, this list is brutal: -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. They didn't warn users that this change was coming, or get their approval in advance. - Facebook represented that third-party apps that users' installed would have access only to user information that they needed to operate. In fact,…
I remember very well when the first one happened. It pissed me off because someone got to see some information I thought was private after I went to the trouble of going through Facebook's previous 50 privacy settings.
My family had a major falling out with my father, to the point where myself and my sister had a restraining order against him when I was 7 and she was 9. I haven't seen him or talked to him in 16 years. After Facebook deleted my privacy settings, I had a message from him sitting in my inbox the next day. My sister called me, crying, because she had gotten the same message. Both of our accounts were previously unsearchable on the site, with all of our data being private. As soon as they rescinded that privacy, our father could tell what cities we live in (in one of our cases, a _very_ small town) and that she had gotten married, we both had changed our first and last names, and one of us had a child. He found me through my mom's friends list, he found my sister through my friends list. All of which were previously hidden.
Nothing came of it besides an unwanted "please call me" message from him, but it's not a far reach from there to actually being located physically and confronted. We sent this man to jail and changed our names to keep away from him, and Facebook, in spite of their "privacy" settings, let him get a glimpse back into our lives.
Re: Facebook settles with FTC, under privacy watch for 20 years
#8I never understood why bodies like the FTC rely on 'independent, third-party audits' for enforcement, since they end up making the entire action pointless. The independent third-party auditor will give Facebook a stamp of approval, both in the next 180 days and every two years thereafter, because the independent third-party auditor wants the repeat business. Same thing goes for any regulation that depends on a third…
Don't the credit rating agencies work the same way? The companies being rated pay the agencies, not the companies that want to know the rating.
Re: Facebook settles with FTC, under privacy watch for 20 years
#9I never understood why bodies like the FTC rely on 'independent, third-party audits' for enforcement, since they end up making the entire action pointless. The independent third-party auditor will give Facebook a stamp of approval, both in the next 180 days and every two years thereafter, because the independent third-party auditor wants the repeat business. Same thing goes for any regulation that depends on a third…
Don't the credit rating agencies work the same way? The companies being rated pay the agencies, not the companies that want to know the rating.
They do. Their value is unclear.
Accountants supposedly are employed by shareholders, but in practice are employed by executives. This makes auditing problematic, but it does have some value. The bigger problem there is the big four's oligopoly: they are too big to fail.
Re: Facebook settles with FTC, under privacy watch for 20 years
#10Specifically, under the proposed settlement, Facebook is:
"barred from making misrepresentations about the privacy or security of consumers' personal information;"
Is this implying companies are allowed to lie? Seems redundant.