Facebook hit by user-privacy lawsuit
Summary
A group of Facebook users filed a civil lawsuit Monday that alleges the social-networking site is violating California consumer privacy laws.
Topics
A group of Facebook users filed a civil lawsuit Monday that alleges the social-networking site is violating California consumer privacy laws.
The lawsuit, which was filed in California's Orange County Superior Court on behalf of five users, seeks a jury trial, as well as damages and attorneys' fees. The five plaintiffs are described as two children younger than 13, a user of the original Facebook, a professional photographer, and an actress and model.
The 40-page complaint accuses the Palo Alto, Calif.-based company of violating California privacy and online privacy laws by disseminating private information to third parties for commercial purposes.
"Plaintiffs and the general public desire and expect a level of privacy, which Facebook has failed to satisfy under its current policies, procedures, practices, and technology," the complaint states.
A Facebook spokesman declined to comment on the specifics of the lawsuit other than to say, "We see no merit to this suit and we plan to fight it."
The plaintiffs' attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Facebook is no stranger to privacy controversy. In July, an investigation by Canada's privacy commissioner suggested Facebook is unconcerned with members' privacy and called on it to do more. Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart expressed concern that while it's easy for members to deactivate their accounts, it's less clear on how to actually delete them. Facebook could therefore retain member data from deactivated accounts for an indefinite period of time in violation of Canadian privacy law.
The social network went through a user backlash over the introduction of its News Feed in 2006, and a bigger one over the controversial Beacon advertising program. More recently, a revision to Facebook's terms of use prompted consumer advocacy blog The Consumerist to highlight language that it said meant that Facebook claimed ownership of user profile data and photos.
This article was originally published on CNET News.
Talkback Most Recent of 16 Talkback(s)
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What a crock!
Anyone stupid enough to post personal information on ANY web site, leaves themselves open to having that information made public...or stolen.
IT_Guy_z18th Aug 2009 -
utility, shopping and bank accounts
It's pretty much impossible to avoid registering with companies online nowadays. You have a reasonable expectation that information provided to a company for the purposes of registration should remain confidential - or as confidential as te agrrement you 'signed'.
There are laws in most countries saying so. There are laws regarding cross-border data transfer to contries with less secure policies.
You don't need online registration for information to be hacked or stolen. There have been many cases where laptops or CDs have been lost, containing millions of unencrypted sets of personal data.
What you do do is s**t from a mighty height on anyone allowing such data into the wild.
*On the other hand* if you put up personal data about yourself, even if intended for friends' consumprtion, you're asking for trouble.
Now I don't know what the plaintiffs' precise complaint is (one reason being, folks, that ZDnet's link to the cnet story is broken) but I don't think it clever to publish loads of info online; and for that reason I don;t like facebook et cetera.
Can somone fill me in on what sort of information disclosure we're talking about here?
dgrainge20th Aug 2009 -
AzuMao10th Sep 2009 -
RE: Facebook hit by user-privacy lawsuit
I cancelled my Facebook account when it was hacked and somebody posing as me was trying to solicit emergency funds from my friends. I'm not the only one - thousands have had their Facebook accounts hacked.
Steven J. Ackerman18th Aug 2009 -
Stolen passwd is not hacking
Do not confuse a stolen password with hacking...
wapi19th Aug 2009 -
RE: Facebook hit by user-privacy lawsuit
I completly agree w the person that wrote this comment... If u dont want ur face or info on the internet u shouldn't post it online.... Esecially the website that all ages use on a daily bases to keep up with their family and friends that are mainly out of state.... Facebook and Myspace is a great way and doesnt cost us a thing... For intence My Uncle works overseas and we stay connected thru Facebook... Some friends and other family.... So dont hate on Facebook.............. So my best advice is to not invite friends or accept friends requests from ppl that you don't kno..... There for this kinda stuff wouldn't happen.... Besides every1 is looking for some1 2 sue bc of the resession we are in with the world..... Its deff all about money even with the courts...... This is jus ashame that some ppl are the victums of idiots.....
Jessica432118th Aug 2009 -
I disagree
Facebook is not a public domain. You're not posting to a bulletin board or open forum. It's a way to share pictures and information with people you CHOOSE to share with. Obviously, you can put all your information out there and turn off all the privacy settings, but that's not what the lawsuit is about. If Facebook is doing something they shouldn't with the data, they need to answer for it. If you e-mail pictures to your cousin, does that give your e-mail provider the right to use your personal information or photographs for some other purpose?
Etch4420th Aug 2009 -
RE: Facebook hit by user-privacy lawsuit
Canada complains about deleting your Facebook page and data. How does one get a page deleted that they did not set up but has your name or company?
TrueDinosaur18th Aug 2009 -
RE: Facebook hit by user-privacy lawsuit
If you're on the Internet, you've inherently given up
privacy. You want to keep it private, keep off the WWW.
WAW505819th Aug 2009 -
The logical extension of this theory...
...is that we should expect the postman to read and photocopy our mail from time to time, and for engineers at telecoms companies to occaisonally listen in and make recordings of our telephone conversations.
I think Etch44 in comment 3.1 hits the nail on the head with this post:
Facebook is not a public domain. You're not posting to a bulletin board or open forum. It's a way to share pictures and information with people you CHOOSE to share with. Obviously, you can put all your information out there and turn off all the privacy settings, but that's not what the lawsuit is about.
Tom-Tech10th Sep 2009 -
Let this be a warning, then.
If you want to remove your data, remove it before terminating your account with Facebook. Also, if you expect any kind of privacy, posting your information on a public domain is equivalent to speaking it in public, or even writing it on a poster or billboard and leaving it out in the open.
Now, with that being said, I don't think Facebook has the right to intentionally hand out your information on the basis that they "own" it. It also wouldn't be that hard to make an option for users to wipe their account and all of their records while terminating their access to it. (An individual can already block your posts from appearing on their page.)
sobeita19th Aug 2009 -
RE: Facebook hit by user-privacy lawsuit
facebook in the past have knowing and willing along have used under handed tacktics to flaunt the laws of privacy..i think there big day in court is well overdue,alan jones,bangor,wales,uk.
sawconfusion19th Aug 2009 -
RE: Facebook hit by user-privacy lawsuit
Deleting your account or wiping information off your site does not mean it is gone. In an ever growing number of countries, the telcommunications industry is required, by law, to retain various amounts and types of account or communications data for periods of 6 to 12 months. Even when you've gone your data is still available to be used against you. Even if you have a valid complaint and you do win in court, the released data is still out there. You will never completely erase it. When you're on the WWW, you're ultimately responsible for you own security. You need to calculate the risk to your future and determine whether the risk is acceptable whenever you put something on the web. So basically, if you don't want the world to know something, don't put it on the web!
More data retention details available here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommunications_data_retention
christopher@...10th Sep 2009 -
RE: Facebook hit by user-privacy lawsuit
Ok, I realize that I'm kind of old, but lets look back on a day before the internet. You got a credit card, and you go out and purchase a couple of high tech items from some store. Next thing you know, you are getting catalogs from companies that sell high tech equipment. If you bought some furnature, you get furnature catalogs. How did that happen? The credit card company sold your address to them because they know what kind of things you bought, it allowed for "targeted marketing." The CC company made money on your address. Did they give you a piece of the action? Nope, they just charged you interest.
Today, all kinds of places do this. There is a company called doubleclick that puts cookies on your computer to track what kind of things you are interested in and sell you information based on that. Look in your cookies. I'll bet you've got 10 or 15 doubleclick cookies on there right now.
Facebook is just trying to make an additional buck. You gave them your email address in good faith. They don't publish it in the open areas, but they gather them, group them, and sell them.
The problem is that technically they are allowed to do that. Usually there is something in the Terms and Conditions (that we all click agree on without reading) that says they can share your information with their "Partners" (someone who pays them for your information).
I don't know what it will take to get rid of this stuff. Most people don't even know that it's happening. Maybe things like this law suit will bring it more out in the open and cause a little uproar so that we can reduce it somewhat. But I don't think it will ever go away.
mmeade@...10th Sep 2009 -
RE: Facebook hit by user-privacy lawsuit
I agree. It makes me almost wonder why we waste our time trying to control it - but I guess if people didn't keep companies in some kind of check - it would be even worse.
jjwalters3@...10th Sep 2009
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