Facebook has found itself in the news again. The main reason why you once saw the popular social networking website in the news was because the general public felt that the website did not offer the users the Internet privacy that they needed. When you thought that the social networking icon had heard the people’s cries, and were working to improve the public’s Internet privacy, they are being slammed in the news once again. Nevertheless, this time they are in the news because people seem to feel that their Internet privacy has once again been violated. As a result of the new developments in Facebook policy, an Internet Privacy Group by the name of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (E.P.I.C.), has decided to file a lawsuit against the social leader. The news circuit states that the change in policy stems from the fact that there is now world wide web access to a Facebook account holder’s gender, photograph, geographic region, the fan sites that they belong to, as well as their friends list. The news reports say that Facebook says that the intention of this new policy was not to violate the terms of Internet privacy, but to only see to it that their original efforts for building the website were fulfilled. The news sources go on to say that Facebook now has over 350 million accounts, and wanted to be sure that people are still able to find and communicate with their long lost classmates and friends. This was not there ploy at violating any one’s Internet privacy.
1. Since the news circuit has announced that the Electronic Privacy Information Center (E.P.I.C.) was filing a lawsuit against Facebook for Internet privacy violation, several other organizations have added themselves to the legal complaint. Many just believe that this was a bad judgment call by Facebook. In many reports to the news, the feeling by most is that, although Facebook did not intend to violate the terms of Internet privacy intentionally, they certainly have done so.
2. The lawsuit, headed by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (E.P.I.C.), against Facebook, also mentions that aside from the obvious identity issues, there is also other potential risks that the new policy poses in terms of a person’s Internet privacy. The news sources say that E.P.I.C. says that by the social networking website displaying the friends list, this can lead to privacy violations of a person’s sexual orientation. People may be able to decipher, based on the friends list, what a person’s sexual preference is just by viewing their Facebook account.
3. The news is reporting that that Electronic Privacy Information Center (E.P.I.C.) is filing the lawsuit so that websites such as Facebook will give users more control over how it is that they conduct their Internet privacy. They feel that it should be totally up to the Facebook account holder to decide what content they choose to display.