Facebook Privacy Back In The News For A Few Reasons

Several pieces of news have come out directly related to Facebook user privacy.

First, the Wall Street Journal’s Liz Heron tweeted that Facebook Manager of Media Partnerships Andy Mitchell said that Facebook is “moving away from passive sharing on Open Graph”. (via BuzzFeed)

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Liz Heron
@lheron

Facebook moving away from passive sharing on Open Graph, Andy Mitchell says. User feedback was that signal not strong. #ONA12

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13 hours ago via Twitter for iPhone · powered by @socialditto

Secondly, Reuters reports that a U.S. appeals court will allow the $9.5 million Facebook class action settlement related to allegations that its Beacon advertising service violated user privacy. Becaon, launched in 2007, set off a wave of privacy-related complaints, as Facebook shared user activity that people didn’t necessarily want shared.

Finally, Ireland’s Data Protection Commissioner has concluded its “re-audit” of Facebook privacy practices, and Facebook has turned off facial recognition in the EU, reports TechCrunch, who shares the full report from the DPC.

Last month, Facebook managed to dodge an FTC fine over privacy, just as Google was getting nailed with one.