Jun 2, 2008, News Report
Privacy Complaint Filed Against Facebook
The Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC),
based at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law, has asked the
Privacy Commissioner of Canada to investigate alleged violations of
Canadian privacy law by the popular social networking site, Facebook.
CIPPIC's complaint alleges 22 separate violations by Facebook,
including its failure to inform Facebook members of how their personal
information is disclosed to third parties for advertising and other
profit-making activities and its failure to obtain permission from
Facebook members to use their personal information.
A team of law students, some of whom are dedicated Facebook users,
analyzed the company's policies and practices as part of a clinic
course this past winter and identified specific practices that appear
to violate the Canadian Personal Information Protection and Electronic
Documents Act ("PIPEDA").
"Social networking online is growing phenomenon," said Clinic
Director Philippa Lawson. "It is proving to be a tremendous tool for
community-building and social change, but at the same time, a minefield
of privacy invasion. We chose to focus on Facebook because it is the
most popular social networking site in Canada and because it appeals to
young teens who may not appreciate the risks involved in exposing their
personal details online."
Facebook has more than seven million Canadian members, with more
joining every day. This makes Canada the third largest user base, after
the U.S. and the UK
"Facebook purports to provide users with a high level of control
over their data," said Harley Finkelstein, one of the law students who
lodged the complaint. "But our investigation found that this is not
entirely true -- for example, even if you select the strongest privacy
settings, your information may be shared more widely if your Facebook
Friends have lower privacy settings. As well, if you add a third party
application offered on Facebook, you have no choice but to let the
application developer access all your information even if they don't
need it."
Jordan Plener, another law student who worked on the complaint,
noted that "although Facebook has taken steps to allow for more control
over sharing one's information on the site, its default settings are
for sharing in most cases. Changing those settings requires a high
level of aptitude and experience with the site. We believe that many
Facebook users, especially young people, don't appreciate the extent to
which their often sensitive personal information is being shared beyond
their social circle."
"We're concerned that Facebook is deceiving its users," said Lisa
Feinberg, another law student behind the complaint. "Facebook promotes
itself as a social utility, but it's also involved in commercial
activities like targeted advertising. Facebook users need to know that
when they're signing up to Facebook, they're signing up to share their
information with advertisers."
A definition and history of Social Networking:
http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/issue1/boyd.ellison.html co-written by danah m. boyd a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Information at the University of
California-Berkeley and a Fellow at the Harvard University Berkman
Center for Internet and Society. Her research focuses on how people
negotiate mediated contexts like social network sites for sociable
purposes.
An example of implications of Facebook regarding Privacy and Right to a Fair Trial:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2008/01/04/rengel-facebook.html
Beware Facebook's Beacon:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/tech/hightech/facebook-beacon.html
Facebook Phonies:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/tech/internet/facebook.html
Quote from a blog about facebook:
"What is not healthy on the websites are the false accusations, the
gossip, the libelous actions, and the innuendos that permeate some of
the sites. Those in middle school seem to be the worst at this. In
righteous indignation they name those who are accused of crimes, or are
taken in for questioning. They do not understand or respect the legal
system in which we are presumed innocent until proven guilty. In small
communities everyone knows the names of those involved and rumours
spread regarding what is happening. The conversations can turn
vitriolic and they recommend violent answers to the murder and demand
violent retribution for those who have unfairly passed away. "
Criminal Investigations in Canada and Social Networking: (here)
Differences between SNS users and Non Users:
http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/issue1/hargittai.html
Illusion of privacy give users a false sense of security and could lead to Phising attacks:
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2007/04/13/tech-facebookphishing-20070413.html
Facebook, MySpace are great resources for scammers:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2007/12/18/bc-bbbtoptenscams.html
Facebook has a problem with Trust:
http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2008/01/your_take_roundupfacebook_has.html