Facebook user complaints prove valid but no fine or criminal penalty for massive rights abuse
Found guilty of repeated privacy abuse noted in the Federal Trade Commission's eight-count complaint after telling hundreds of millions of users that their information on the social network would be kept private, Facebook is not charged with criminal penalty or fined according to its settlement with the FTC on Tuesday. The investigation was initiated by facebook users and Electronic Privacy Information Center and the process now includes a one-month public comment period. Facebook has to start being honest now, its head saying "it made a mistake."
Facebook has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission (FTC) 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 soft settlement on Facebook, no fines or criminal penalties, is open for public comment for one month according to the Wall Street Journal Tuesday afternoon.
Rogue elements involved in cyber-stalking innocent Targeted Individuals on Facebook and through other electronic means, that victims have complained about to this reporter, are not mentioned in Tuesday's news releases.
"Facebook is obligated to keep the promises about privacy that it makes to its hundreds of millions of users," said Jon Leibowitz, Chairman of the FTC. "Facebook's innovation does not have to come at the expense of consumer privacy. The FTC action will ensure it will not."
According to the FTC, 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.
Facebook did not warn users that that change was coming, or get their approval in advance. Now, it still does not have to roll back its system to keep the privacy promises it had originally made.
The settlement seems "very fair" on balance, said Marc Rotenberg, president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), a privacy group that spearheaded a complaint filed against Facebook at the FTC nearly two years ago, despite his admitting "practical consequence is that the company will be able to continue to use and market and disclose information from users that we believe was improperly obtained."
Among the other complaints (PDF) agaisnt Facebook, '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.'
"The settlement demands that Facebook avoid any new deceptive privacy claims, and also that users must give explicit permission for changes to be made to their privacy preferences."
The FTC says that Facebook will be audited every two years for the next two decades to ensure it is "holding up their end of the settlement."
In a lengthy statement on Facebook's blog, Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged that they'd made mistakes.
"Facebook's privacy practices were the subject of complaints filed with the FTC by the Electronic Privacy Information Center and a coalition of consumer groups," it states.
The Federal Trade Commission works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish, visit the FTC's online Complaint Assistant or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357).
The FTC enters complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to more than 2,000 civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad. Its website provides free information on a variety of consumer topics.
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