According to The Wall Street Journal, Belgium's Privacy Commission is taking Facebook to court over its very troubling privacy practices. Last month, the Commission publicly chastised Facebook for the way it handles the personal data of Internet users. The Commission has focused on "how Facebook tracks Internet users
on external websites through the use of “like” and “share” buttons".
In general, I avoid using Facebook's "like" or "share" button because for years the company has demonstrated via its privacy policy and agreements with data brokers that it has does not care about the privacy of its users. The New York Times recently shed some light on how Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg is a privacy hypocrite. Mr. Zuckerberg's business practices demonstrate that he doesn't believe his users deserve to have their personal data kept private but he wants those who are working with him personally to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDA) to protect his personal information. This behavior appears to demonstrates that Mr. Zuckerberg believes privacy is only for the super-rich and not the Average Joe or Facebook user.
My hope is that U.S. lawmakers, regulators, and state attorney generals closely watch how the European Union (EU) deals with digital privacy issues. While I don't agree with every public policy decision that the EU makes regarding the digital ecosystem, when it comes to holding companies such as Facebook and Google accountable for the way they handle and utilize the personal information of Internet users', the U.S. should closely explore emulating the EU's thought process on these matters.
Privacy is one of the hallmarks of a democratic society and we must protect it before some members of the technology community permanently destroy it to maximize their corporate profits. While Facebook and Google talk the talk regarding privacy they have failed to walk the walk and refrain from abusing their access to the data they are collecting about all of us.
Copyright 2015 by The Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC All rights reserved.