The Federal Trade Commission has announced that they have signed a broad settlement with Facebook. This is make sure that Facebook will respect the privacy wishes of its users, while subjecting the site to regular privacy audits for the next 20 years.
Eight complaints were made, including Facebook deceiving users on content left over after they deleted an account to sharing information with advertisers, though no fines were levied and Facebook was not accused of intentionally breaking the law. In the future, if Facebook violates the terms of the settlement in the future, it would be liable to pay a penalty of $16,000 a day for each count.
“Facebook has always been committed to being transparent about the information you have stored with us — and we have led the Internet in building tools to give people the ability to see and control what they share,” said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg who conceded that the company had made “a bunch of mistakes.”
Facebook will now have to obtain its users’ “affirmative express consent” before it overrides their own privacy settings. If a user sets a content to be visible to “friends,” Facebook will have to ask to distribute it more broadly.
“The order is designed to protect people’s privacy, anticipating that Facebook is likely to change products and services it offers,” said David Vladeck, director of the bureau of consumer protection at the FTC.
Facebook has enacted numerous changes since 2004 that have sometimes upset users. “We’ve all known that Facebook repeatedly cuts corners when it comes to its privacy promises,” Eric Goldman, a law professor at Santa Clara University. “Like most Internet companies, they thought they could get away with it. They didn’t.”
Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, thinks that the FTC was right to do this, but what is needed is a federal law to protect consumer privacy. “We hope they will establish a high bar for privacy protection,” said Rotenberg. “But we do not have in the United States a comprehensive privacy framework. There is always a risk other companies will come along and create new problems.”
Meanwhile, the settlement with the FTC could help allay investors concerns about government intervention in Facebook. “When you have an I.P.O. you don’t want investors to be skeptical or jittery,” said Ryan Calo, who leads privacy research at the Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School. “In order for you to be as valuable as possible, you want to make sure the seas are calm. This calms the seas.”
Source: New York Times
