Adults and minors alike need to be on the lookout for Facebook’s new privacy policies.
Recent changes have been made to Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities that will give the site permission to use the information of all of its users for commercial purposes. The information includes names, profile pictures, statuses, activities, and anything else on a user’s profile. These changes were proposed as part of an agreement that was made in settlement of a class-action lawsuit. Earlier this month, the top six privacy organizations in the United States, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, Center for Digital Democracy, Consumer Watchdog, Patient Privacy Rights, U.S. PIRG, and the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, sent a joint letter to politicians and regulators asking that the proposed changes be blocked. In response to the letter, Facebook temporarily postponed amending its Statement of Rights and Responsibilities and asked for user feedback regarding the proposed changes. It’s not a surprise that users were vehemently against allowing Facebook to automatically use their information in support of advertisements.
https://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook-site-governance/proposed-updates-to-our-governing-documents/10153167395945301
An extreme and unfortunate example of the consequences of these proposed changes comes from a dating site recently using a rape victim’s picture to promote its dating services. Although Facebook has apologized and the dating site has since been taken offline, this is the potential result of Facebook’s proposed changes going into effect.
Although Facebook says their policy would not be in violation of the law, is it still acceptable for them to use our personal information for commercial purposes?