Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) has accused Facebook of 22 privacy violations.
This is not the first time as in January 2008 Facebook was quizzed by the Information Commissioner’s Office in UK following a complaint by a user who was unable to fully delete her profile even after terminating her account.
According to the 35 page complaint CIPPIC believes believes Facebook violates the Canadian Personal Information Protection and Electronic Document Act (PIPEDA).
CIPPIC’s director Philippa Lawson said:
Social networking online is a growing phenomenon. It is proving to be a tremendous tool for community building and social change, but at the same time, a minefield of privacy invasion.
This complaint was initiated by CIPPIC after receiving information from Lisa Feinberg, a law student at the University. According to her:
We’re concerned that Facebook is deceiving its users. Facebook promotes itself as a social utility, but it’s also involved in commercial activities like targeted advertising.
The complaint argues that Facebook fails to inform members how their information is disclosed to third parties for advertising and other profit-making purposes. It also argues that the site has failed to obtain permission from members for such uses of their personal information.
Facebook spokesperson Chris Kelly responded:
We pride ourselves on the industry-leading controls we offer users over their personal information. We’ve reviewed the complaint and found it has serious factual errors - most notably its neglect of the fact that almost all Facebook data is willingly shared by users.
He further said:
The complaint also misinterprets PIPEDA in a manner that would effectively forbid voluntary online sharing of information and ignores key elements of Facebook’s privacy policy and architecture. We look forward to working with Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart to set the record straight and will continue our ongoing efforts to educate users and the public around privacy controls on Facebook.
Lawson said later it would probably turn its attention to MySpace. Canada
contains Facebook’s third largest user base after the US and the UK.
The ball is in commissioner’s court now who has started the hearing. It could take up to one year to report the findings.
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