The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the ACLU of Northern California, and number of other privacy groups are calling on Facebook to give users true control over their personal information by taking critical steps to protect users’ data.
In an open letter sent to CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the coalition asks Facebook to close its "app gap" and allow users to decide which applications can access their personal data. The group also asks Facebook to make "instant personalization" an opt-in service and use an HTTPS connection for all interactions by default.
"Facebook continues to push its users into more and more public sharing — sharing that it’s not at all clear members want or fully understand," said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston.
"We’re calling on Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg to respect their members and give them the information and the tools they need for true control."
The EFF says Facebook made some important privacy improvements last month, but key aspects of user control were not covered by the changes.
"Social network service providers are in a unique position — hosting communications, conversations, and connections with loved ones, family, and friends," said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Kurt Opsahl.
"This is extremely sensitive information, and social networking services must ensure that users have ongoing privacy and control."
In addition to EFF and the ACLU of Northern California, other groups signing the open letter include the Center for Democracy and Technology, the Center for Digital Democracy, Consumer Action, Consumer Watchdog, Privacy Lives, and the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.