Facebook, FTC Settle Privacy Case

Regulatory authorities are revealing certain alarming information about the social network giant Facebook. According to them, more than 800 million users have been misled by the online social network about the sacredness of their personal and private information. They also charged Facebook for deceiving consumers and forcing them to share more personal and private information than they intended.  The unflattering depiction of Facebook's privacy practices transpired in a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) complaint which alleged Facebook of exposing details about users’ lives without getting their consent which is a legal requirement. The FTC charged Facebook of allowing potentially sensitive information to be passed along to software developers and advertisers prowling for customers in some cases. As part of a settlement with the United States Federal Trade Commission, Facebook will now be subjected to submit its privacy practices to government audits for the next 20 years in order to evade further legal strife. It is now obligated to get explicit consent from its users before changing their privacy controls, a process termed as "opting in". Along with settlements this year with Google and Twitter, the FTC's settlement with Facebook is helping in establishing more ground rules for online privacy expectations while on the other hand Internet companies regularly consume insights about their users in an attempt to push more advertising. Even though the social network did not acknowledge any wrongdoing while signing the legal papers with the FTC, Mark Zuckerberg, its co-founder and CEO, was more apologetic in a blog post published yesterday. 

"I'm the first to admit that we've made a bunch of mistakes," he wrote. He also referred to the changes made in the privacy policy two years ago by saying "In particular, I think that a small number of high-profile mistakes … have often overshadowed much of the good work we've done." Zuckerberg pointed out that two new corporate privacy officer positions have been created to oversee Facebook products and policy and to ensure that Facebook does a better job in future. Earlier, the FTC accused Facebook of repeatedly violating laws and alleged it of unfair and deceptive practices like promising users that their personal information would not be shared with advertisers and then sharing it without their knowledge. The FTC also pointed out that Facebook had failed to notify its users about the change in its website in December 2009. This change made certain information public that were designated as private by users, such as their "Friends List". It is also said that Facebook is seeking to make big bucks by mining the personal information collected to facilitate customize ads and direct the messages at individuals most likely to purchase the products and services being promoted. It is fact that no other website has been as successful as Facebook in getting individuals to voluntarily share private details about themselves. Mark Zuckerberg has surfaced as a chief evangelist of internet for sharing as according to him it can help make the world a better place. According to this settlement, which still needs to be approved by an administrative law judge of FTC, Facebook is

• Barred from deceiving about how it uses personal information
• Required to get approval prior to any change in the visibility of the personal information posted by the users

FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said that the social networking service is subject to fines of $16,000 per day if the company is found to have violated any of the provisions of the settlement. It must be noted that this settlement follows a similar agreement which took place between the FTC and Google Inc in March over the rollout of Web search leader's own social network called Buzz. The FTC has also settled charges with Twitter in 2010, after it alleged that the social networking service had failed in protecting personal information of its users. What do you think of this settlement? Come share your feedback with us by writing in the comment are below and let your voice be heard