Facebook, the website that has revolutionized the concept of socializing, has broken a number of promises to keep its users' information private, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
Now, the lion of online social networking has agreed to settle FTC charges that it deceived consumers by promising to keep certain Facebook information private but instead disclosing such data to advertisers and other third parties.
The proposed settlement prevents Facebook from making further deceptive claims over privacy and requires the company to obtain approval from consumers before it changes how it shares their data, the FTC announced Tuesday. Under a proposed settlement that would dispose of an eight-count complaint, Facebook also must obtain periodic assessments of its privacy practices over the next 20 years.
"Facebook's innovation does not have to come at the expense of consumer privacy," FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said in a statement. "The FTC action will ensure it will not."
Mark Zuckerberg, the billionaire who founded one of the most popular websites in the world with 750 million users as of August, conceded in a blog Tuesday that Facebook "made a bunch of mistakes." But he claimed privacy is at the heart of Facebook's development activities and said the company has been proactively addressing concerns that the FTC has raised even prior to the settlement announcement.
"Today's announcement formalizes our commitment to providing you with control over your privacy and sharing – and it also provides protection to ensure that your information is only shared in the way you intend," Zuckerberg wrote.
The FTC complaint cites a number of instances in which Facebook broke promises to keep data private, including sharing users' personal information with advertisers despite promises to the contrary. The government agency also alleged Facebook allowed access to users' photos and videos even after users had deactivated or deleted accounts, claimed it certified the security of participating applications in a "Verified Apps" program when that was not true, and misrepresented that third-party apps installed by users would have access only to information that the apps needed. And in December 2009, Facebook changed its website so particular information that users may have designated as private like their Friends List was actually publicly available, according to the complaint. Facebook also was accused of misrepresenting that users could restrict sharing of data to limited individuals.
The FTC said the proposed settlement will be subject to public comments through Dec. 30. After that, the agency will decide whether to finalize the agreement.
