European Union Criticizes Facebook
It looks like not everyone is happy with Facebook.
A European data protection group on Wednesday wrote a letter to Facebook in which it told the social networking site that its recent privacy changes are "unacceptable". They said that changes in the default settings are a major detriment to users' privacy.
Last month, Facebook introduced the concept of an "open graph," intended to create a larger, more social Facebook community across the Web. It also introduced "Community Pages" which are meant to provide information about various topics.
Consumer groups, members of US Congress, and privacy watchdogs have thrown criticisms because of a lack of information as to how individual data are being used.
The Working Party said Facebook must provide a "default setting in which access to the profile information about the connections of a user is limited to self-selected contacts." The Working Party also warned third-party developers about using members' personal data. They said "it would be a breach of data protection law if they use personal data of other individuals contained in a user profile for commercial purposes if these other individuals have not given their free and unambiguous consent."
Facebook said it is currently reviewing the Working Party letter.