Posted by 
Facebook’s new privacy settings have prompted the Electronic Privacy Information Center and other groups to complain to the US government
The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), the Center for Digital Democracy and eight other organisations have filed a complaint to America’s Federal Trade Commission about the changes Facebook has made to its privacy settings.
Facebook’s changes encourage people to make information more widely available and easier to search. Previously, the system encouraged users to make information available only to their friends and people in the same networks. The simplified transition page does allow people to choose to keep their old settings, but the complaint to the FTC argues that the system is less private than it was before.
Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg appeared to be a victim of the site’s new privacy settings. The changes enabled everyone to look through his photo albums and Valleywag, now part of the Gawker blog, published “some of the more interesting shots”. In the UK, the Daily Mail published a picture of Zuckerberg cuddling his teddy bear.
Some Facebook users will be in for a shock when they find that 350 million members can now see photos that they uploaded when they were perhaps only available to a few close friends. Photos, fan pages and lists of friends that are searchable could also show up on Google and other search engines, which in effect makes them available to billions of people.
It could be a great attraction for potential stalkers.
In a statement, Facebook spokesman Barry Schnitt said that Facebook “discussed the privacy program with many regulators, including the FTC, prior to launch and expect to continue to work with them in the future.”
However, on the All Facebook blog, Nick O’Neill has pointed out that the privacy settings could represent an even greater threat to users who live in countries such as Iran. He writes:
Iran is known for pursuing and occasionally arresting those who speak out against the current regime in an attempt to curb further uprisings. There is no doubt that the state is monitoring Facebook usage including Facebook Pages and groups in an attempt to determine who are the greatest threats to the existing regime.
For Facebook, of course, having more information publicly available makes it easier to target users with paid advertisements.
via (guardian.co.uk)
