Canadian Privacy Commissioner Investigates Facebook

Posted on February 4, 2010 by Hunton & Williams LLP

Pursuant to a public complaint, on January 27, 2010, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada announced a new investigation into Facebook.  The investigation concerns the social networking site’s introduction of a tool that required its users to review their privacy settings in December 2009.  According to the complaint, Facebook’s new default settings allegedly made some users’ information more accessible than previously had been the case.  Elizabeth Denham, the Assistant Privacy Commissioner, indicated “[s]ome Facebook users are disappointed by certain changes being made to the site – changes that were supposed to strengthen their privacy and the protection of their personal information.”

The new complaint follows the Commissioner’s July 2009 release of findings resulting from an investigation into Facebook’s privacy policies and practices.  The findings highlighted concerns regarding Facebook, including a need for increased transparency and clarity.  The Office of the Privacy Commissioner will continue to follow up with Facebook as the company implements changes to its site.  

For further information, please see the Office of the Privacy Commissioner's News Release.

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Privacy Group Files FTC Complaint Against Facebook

Posted on December 18, 2009 by Hunton & Williams LLP

On December 17, 2009, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (“EPIC”) filed a complaint with the FTC claiming that Facebook is engaging “unfair and deceptive trade practices” by changing its privacy policies.  Notably, the changes allow anyone who browses the Internet to view a Facebook user’s name, profile picture, gender, geographic region and list of friends.  Facebook has stated that it implemented these changes to make it easier to find individual users among the estimated 350 million Facebook users.

EPIC’s complaint, which was signed by nine other privacy organizations, alleges that Facebook’s privacy changes injure users by “invading their privacy; allowing for disclosure and use of information in ways and for purposes other than those consented to or relied upon by such users; causing them to believe falsely that they have full control over the use of their information; and undermining the ability of users to avail themselves of the privacy protections promised by the company.”  EPIC’s complaint further alleges that Facebook’s claim that users “have extensive and precise controls available to choose who sees what among their network and friends, as well as tools that give them the choice to make a limited set of information available to search engines and other outside entities” is deceptive because “Facebook’s changes to users’ privacy settings and associated policies in fact categorize as ‘publicly available information’ users’ names, profile photos, lists of friends, pages they are fans of, gender, geographic regions, and networks to which they belong.”

EPIC is requesting the FTC compel Facebook to “restore its previous privacy settings” and “make its data collection practices clearer and more comprehensible and to give Facebook users meaningful control over personal information provided by Facebook to advertisers and developers.”  In response to EPIC’s complaint, Facebook released a statement that the company had “discussed the privacy program with many regulators, including the FTC, prior to launch and expect to continue to work with them in the future.”
 
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Draft Bill to Require Disclosure of Online Behavioral Tracking

Posted on March 24, 2009 by Hunton & Williams LLP

Behavioral targeting on the Internet has recently come under the scrutiny of lawmakers and privacy advocates.  This increased interest has been triggered in part by Facebook’s and Google’s recent adoption of targeted advertising practices.  In response to growing concerns over behavioral tracking, three U.S. congressmen are preparing a draft bill that would mandate the disclosure of monitoring practices for advertising purposes.  The goal of the bill is to increase transparency and provide individuals with the opportunity to learn what information is being collected about them, by whom and how the information will be used.  At present, there are suggested best practices set forth in the Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC’s”) Staff Report on Self-Regulatory Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising.  These Self-Regulatory Principles are designed to encourage industry self regulation for the protection of consumer privacy in online advertising activities.  The FTC is in the process of reviewing the privacy issues raised by online behavioral advertising over the course of the last decade.  An FTC Town Hall meeting to address behavioral advertising practices was hosted in November 2007.  In response to the comments received at the Town Hall meeting, the FTC issued Self-Regulatory Principles to promote industry self-regulation.  If enacted, the proposed bill would frustrate industry’s nascent efforts to self-regulate in this area.

While there has been considerable discussion of online behavioral advertising, the placement of targeted ads on the Internet is not a new phenomenon.  A number of well-known companies, including Yahoo! and Microsoft, have made use of the technology for years.  Facebook has joined the bandwagon and notified advertisers that they could begin targeting ads to users based on language and location.  A posting on Facebook’s company blog indicated that the location and language features represented a “huge upgrade for Facebook’s targeting.”  The ability for advertisers to target specific users is significant given that Facebook recently announced that it expects to have 200 million users by the end of March 2009.  Google also announced that it will begin interest-based advertising that provides users with ads based on the types of websites they visit.  This service would supplement Google’s existing contextual advertising.  As part of its approach to targeted ads, and perhaps to allay privacy concerns,  Google will offer users an opt-out by downloading a browser level plug-in to restrict the use of interest-based ads.   

The FTC’s online behavioral advertising principles are available here.
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