Those who do not remember the past ...
April 10, 2018 5:13 AM Subscribe
Facebook Settles FTC Charges That It Deceived Consumers By Failing To Keep Privacy Promises. Good news! Oh wait - that was in 2011. Zuckerberg is back in town today. He is going to read a letter.
According to the FTC in 2011:
The social networking service 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 proposed settlement requires Facebook to take several steps to make sure it lives up to its promises in the future, including giving consumers clear and prominent notice and obtaining consumers' express consent before their information is shared beyond the privacy settings they have established.
Specifically, under the proposed settlement, Facebook is:
- barred from making misrepresentations about the privacy or security of consumers' personal information;
- required to obtain consumers' affirmative express consent before enacting changes that override their privacy preferences;
- required to prevent anyone from accessing a user's material more than 30 days after the user has deleted his or her account;
- required to establish and maintain a comprehensive privacy program designed to address privacy risks associated with the development and management of new and existing products and services, and to protect the privacy and confidentiality of consumers' information; and
- required, within 180 days, and every two years after that for the next 20 years, to obtain independent, third-party audits certifying that it has a privacy program in place that meets or exceeds the requirements of the FTC order, and to ensure that the privacy of consumers' information is protected.
Previously.
According to the FTC in 2011:
The social networking service 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 proposed settlement requires Facebook to take several steps to make sure it lives up to its promises in the future, including giving consumers clear and prominent notice and obtaining consumers' express consent before their information is shared beyond the privacy settings they have established.
Specifically, under the proposed settlement, Facebook is:
- barred from making misrepresentations about the privacy or security of consumers' personal information;
- required to obtain consumers' affirmative express consent before enacting changes that override their privacy preferences;
- required to prevent anyone from accessing a user's material more than 30 days after the user has deleted his or her account;
- required to establish and maintain a comprehensive privacy program designed to address privacy risks associated with the development and management of new and existing products and services, and to protect the privacy and confidentiality of consumers' information; and
- required, within 180 days, and every two years after that for the next 20 years, to obtain independent, third-party audits certifying that it has a privacy program in place that meets or exceeds the requirements of the FTC order, and to ensure that the privacy of consumers' information is protected.
Previously.
This post was deleted for the following reason: Hey sorry, it's possible that a new in-depth post with info on the evolving current situation with Facebook could be valuable at this point, but this isn't really that, and the existing thread is still open. -- taz
FB provides a valuable service, that is, event planning, group conversations, and keeping track of people in discrete but overlapping networks. They have done some good things, and brought a lot of people together, but their engagement techniques are toxic, and the way they've monetized it is at the very least malign. I am popcorn-ready for FB to be burned to the ground and the earth salted beneath the feet of its executives. Once a company gets to be powerful enough to threaten the stability of nations, it will attract the interest of nations. And not genteel interest.
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:43 AM on April 10, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:43 AM on April 10, 2018 [4 favorites]
I'm a little confused by this post. The story from 2011 and the open letter seem like...what are we discussing here?
posted by lazaruslong at 6:02 AM on April 10, 2018
posted by lazaruslong at 6:02 AM on April 10, 2018
I am ready to close my Facebook account again. What I need is for someone to create a service where I can upload my photos of my kids semi privately and then magically convince my in laws to use said service.
I've already removed all possible personal information from the site and locked down all the privacy settings, so there isn't any farther I can go.
posted by selfnoise at 6:09 AM on April 10, 2018
I've already removed all possible personal information from the site and locked down all the privacy settings, so there isn't any farther I can go.
posted by selfnoise at 6:09 AM on April 10, 2018
The Too Big to Fail of Social Media.
Weirdly Twitter gets off the hook on most of this due to its transparent lack of any kind of privacy, despite being thoroughly exploited by the same kinds of ghouls and utterly riddled with Nazis.
posted by Artw at 6:12 AM on April 10, 2018
Weirdly Twitter gets off the hook on most of this due to its transparent lack of any kind of privacy, despite being thoroughly exploited by the same kinds of ghouls and utterly riddled with Nazis.
posted by Artw at 6:12 AM on April 10, 2018
I meant to add that this is the first time I've seen multiple people on my tiny friends list close their accounts... So it does feel like some kind of inflection point.
posted by selfnoise at 6:13 AM on April 10, 2018
posted by selfnoise at 6:13 AM on April 10, 2018
Weirdly Twitter gets off the hook on most of this due to its transparent lack of any kind of privacy, despite being thoroughly exploited by the same kinds of ghouls and utterly riddled with Nazis.
Yes. They aren't actively lying about that privacy, which is a big thing.
posted by jaduncan at 6:21 AM on April 10, 2018
Yes. They aren't actively lying about that privacy, which is a big thing.
posted by jaduncan at 6:21 AM on April 10, 2018
Lazuruslong - the first link is to a previous settlement FB has with the FTC regarding lax user privacy practices. They promised to make things transparent. They didn't, and now Zuckerberg is going to 'explain' why. Except it's not much of an explanation. Apologies for the confusing formatting ...
posted by carter at 6:21 AM on April 10, 2018
posted by carter at 6:21 AM on April 10, 2018
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posted by scruss at 5:35 AM on April 10, 2018 [2 favorites]