Privacy offered by the various social networking websites has always been one of the most controversial issues amongst the users. However, facebook with its new litigious privacy policies is now looking ahead to newer complications as most overseas regulators now mull over these privacy settings with great distrust. In the recent activities, a threatening notification was sent to Facebook by the data protection officials from Hamburg in Germany. In the complaint, the social networking website is accused of having involvements in several illegal activities. According to the complaint, the social networking website is accused of compiling the data of various people who aren’t members of the socializing website through the various email importer tools.
Facebook Privacy Issues
Facebook had faced similar complaints last year when Canada’s privacy commissioner pressurized the socializing site to enhance its privacy control after citing certain genuine security issues. The same matter was again pulled out in the spotlight this month when a case was filed against facebook by a Toronto based law firm. Similarly, in the U.S. a group of senators raised an issue about the huge amount of data that Facebook shared along with its third party coalitions while the site’s new privacy settings was being remodeled. However, the issue remains unsolved as more than half of regular facebook’s users live in other countries where the rules and regulations are much different. Hence, it is very doubtful whether the lawmakers will actually agree to this concept provide by Facebook on the privacy settings.
According to Paul Bond, a renowned attorney working with Reed Smith and has a specialization in privacy and data protection, it is due to the individuality of Facebook due to which people all across the world can interact with each other. However, its services are challenged by the differing laws in every different country. People using the site belong to different countries and are expected to follow the rules patterned by their governments. However, no answer was achieved by the Facebook representatives when asked on how they deal with their huge data and manage its protection in the various countries.
Well, the immense power of socializing websites can never be defied, especially when partly the entire world shares the web with their online identity via these networking sites. Despite the huge competition, Facebook holds a special place in the hearts of all surfers as well as the governments of all nations. Regulators, candidates and politicians of today, closely follow the socializing site for gearing up the younger generation for various activities. Facebook’s collaboration with the Prime Minister is a proof about the super success of the socializing site, not just amongst its regular users but also in the political field. Facebook partnered with the British Prime Minister’s office for “The Spending Challenge”, which is a project for creating new solutions about the country’s budget problems. However, this doesn’t mean that these governments completely agree on the way that the socializing network manages the personal user’s data. Due to such similar issues, the Chinese Government is believed to have blocked Facebook’s access on certain occasions.
