Following Facebook's f8 conference announcement about the new connections with other Web sites which comes with an opt-out rather than an opt-in option, politicians have been speaking out against the development.
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) objected the third-party sharing, urging the Federal Trade Commission to address the issue of "social network privacy." His main concern was that sites would be misleading in their privacy statements, not clearly stating the extent of third-party information sharing to users. He wants sites to fully disclose their information-sharing policies and procedures to ensure no information is being shared without permission.
Schumer also teamed up with three other Democratic senators on an open letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to express similar concerns. Such political involvement could mean Facebook's new policies are sending it to D.C. Once third-party sharing comes into the mix, politicians start to take notice, and it is Facebook's new procedure that could be bringing it down again.
Ironically, I came across this article after presenting my paper on Facebook and Internet privacy, and it is eerily fitting. Just another example of how our information is traced online and personal information cannot be escaped. As for any impending legal battles, this is a case we'll have to follow. As I mentioned in my first post on the subject, this could be the next major controversy for Facebook, and it seems it's come out of the gate running.
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