Commentary

One Lawsuit Disappears, But Facebook's Privacy Woes Persist

Last summer, Facebook was hit with a sweeping privacy lawsuit by five users who alleged that the site's business model, "has transformed from that of a social network into that of a data mining company." The users complained about everything from Social Ads -- a feature that tells users which of their friends are "fans" of particular marketers -- to the registration process, allegedly "designed to obfuscate review of the terms of use and privacy policy."

The case was notable because it was filed by the Mark Lanier law firm -- a high-powered Houston, Tex.-based outfit that's won awards of more than $100 million in cases involving Vioxx and asbestos. (The Vioxx award was later reversed on appeal.)

But suing Facebook apparently didn't prove as lucrative for the firm as bringing personal injury cases. The plaintiffs quietly withdrew the case in February. News of the move was kept quiet until late last week, when attorney Venkat Balasubramani blogged about the case.

No reason was given in the court documents, which state that the withdrawal was with prejudice -- meaning that the users can't refile later.

Of course, this lawsuit was only one of many privacy-related actions currently plaguing Facebook.

Not only is the company still dealing with other litigation stemming from its change in terms last December, but the Federal Trade Commission also appears to be interested in a complaint filed by the Electronic Privacy Information Center and other privacy groups about the new terms. Those provisions classify a trove of data as publicly available information; Facebook also changed many default privacy settings to share-everything-with-everyone.

Additionally, Facebook announced late last month that it's contemplating sharing information about users with third-party sites on an opt-out basis -- a move that, if carried out, will inevitably result in a new wave of complaints.

And Facebook doesn't need to just worry about dealing with U.S. regulators. The company also does business in other countries that have far more expansive privacy laws. Just today, news comes that Germany's consumer protection minister has asked Facebook to refrain from going ahead with the plan to share information with other sites absent users' consent.

1 comment about "One Lawsuit Disappears, But Facebook's Privacy Woes Persist".
Check to receive email when comments are posted.
  1. Myrna Rae from forge agency, inc., April 6, 2010 at 5:50 p.m.

    I started in retail at the early age of 16 working for Baur's of Denver - retail (candy, bakery, gourmet, gifts) and restaurant to all of the wealthy people in Denver. By the age of 20 I set up the very first self-service retail store (from a shell) at the new University Hills strip mall. Ok, so I'm dating myself, but that's alright with me. In the interim, at the age of 17 I was positioned in management there as a head buyer for their three locations, then I added the fourth. Worked under my grandmother to begin with - tough woman, but very smart and there was no special treatment of me because I was a relative, in fact she "demanded" far more from me than anyone else. Taught me the success to retail management - engage the customers! It doesn't matter if the customer is poor or very wealthy, customers like to be engaged in the sale process. Today, NO ONE KNOWS HOW TO SELL IN THE RETAIL STORES. The clerks think they are doing the customer's a favor if they say hello. The "ART OF SELLING" has genuinely been lost at the retail level. Like other women, I realize I get more out of my computer than most sales people!

    While I know this may seem lengthy, it is very important. If most people treated their job as if they owned the company, many more people would still be employed, and less people would be going to the Internet to do their normal shopping.

    I have been in business for over 40 years, servicing some of the worlds most prestigious corporations. Love my work. Keeps my blood flowing. I always revert back to a statement by Ina Garten with the Food Network, who when asked what she was going to do after she sold her Bearfoot Contessa catering company commented. "If it doesn't keep me up at night, it's not worth doing!" Ditto for me. I'm sixty eight years old and proud of it. Last year I launched a huge new program into the mass merchant grocery industry - UltimateTailgateParty.com - my patented, copyrighted football helmet shaped cookies, cookie pans and containers. This year, and in just four short months did the "untinkable again" launched not one but an entirely new brand of products to the mass merchant grocers, Memory Makers - large format cookie-cakes. My customers are Kroger, SuperValu/Albertsons, and more. I love what I do and what I do makes it fun to be in retail sales - at least for the people in the bakeries. My products garner immediate consumer response - purchases. I design good products, that are financially intelligent, and most of all, don't require any special ability by a sales person to sell them because I know, sadly, that those highly gifted retail sales people are nearly non-existent this day in age. I on the other hand have had the ability to make sales (my sales) to the most influential companies in the world, just log on to Forgeagency.com or Myrnaraes.com. Once a salesperson, always a salesperson.

    Myrna

Next story loading loading..
About the Author

Wendy Davis is a Senior Writer at MediaPost. You can reach Wendy at wdavis@mediapost.com