In the latest Facebook privacy turn of events, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) filed an official complaint with the Federal Trade Commission today to investigate Facebook’s recent privacy settings revision. Arguing that the recent adjustments are “unfair and deceptive trade practices,” EPIC and seven other consumer advocacy groups are urging for the investigation of the new settings and a return to the old settings.
The debate surrounding the new Facebook privacy settings has been raging in the electronic community since its roll-out earlier this month. As Facebook stands to gain better ground with search engines thanks to the privacy adjustments, a plethora of privacy advocate groups have taken a critical look at the changes which allow for more user information to be made public. While many stronger privacy settings were put in place by Facebook, allowing for greater controls by the user, the ACLU and others argue that some important information is no longer optional to divulge, thus creating a breach of consumer privacy protection in their opinion. Profile pictures, location and gender are now among the settings that have gone from optional to mandatory settings available for everyone to see.
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