Senators Seek Better Facebook Privacy
Four U.S. Senators are campaigning for Facebook to make it easier for its 400 million members to protect their privacy as the site creates new ways to share personal information.
The call for simpler privacy controls was sent via letter to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the letter signed by Senator Michael Bennet, D-Colo; Senator Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.; Senator Mark Bergich, D-Alaska; and Senator Al Franken, D-Minn.
This is the second time in three days that Schumer has expressed his concerns about the changes that Facebook announced last week. The new features unlock more data that the social networking site has accumulated about people during its six-year history.
Schumer sent a letter Sunday to the Federal Trade Commission that called out regulators to draw up clearer privacy guidelines for Facebook and other Internet social networks to follow.
Facebook vice president Elliot Schrage said Tuesday in a written response to Schumer that the company welcomes "a continued dialogue with you and others because we agree that scrutiny over the handling of personal data is needed as Internet users seek a more social and interactive experience."
He repeated his earlier statements that Facebook aims to give users more control, not less.Â
Privacy advocates have disagreed by saying the company expects users to share things publicly that they previously restricted to a select group of online friends.
The political pressure Facebook faces from these senators deters its efforts to put its stamp on more websites, a goal that could yield more moneymaking opportunities for the privately held company.
Facebook is using other websites for people to communicate their interests with their online entourages. Facebook has also tweaked its own website to create more pages for people’s biographical information.Â
Before personal information can be shared with other websites, Senators want Facebook to ask for users’ consent. Currently, Facebook shares personal information with websites unless an individual opts out by telling the company not to share those details.
The senators also object to Facebook allowing other businesses to store users’ data for over 24 hours.
Zuckergberg says he aims to build more online avenues for people to be able to connect with friends and family. Some of his previous attempts at this have been detoured by privacy concerns, the biggest of which being in 2007 when Facebook users revolted against a notification tool that broadcast their activities on dozens of websites.
Facebook responded to the rebellion by allowing people to have more control over the tool before scrapping the program completely.
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