Facebook Gets Spanked by the FTC

Posted on Nov 29, 2011

Flickr / Gauldo

As you may recall, a couple of years ago Facebook was caught making users’ personal information public without advance warning, suggesting a cavalier attitude toward the issue of privacy, putting it generously. Well, the Federal Trade Commission also treated the social networking giant generously, it turns out, as Tuesday brought word that Facebook was reprimanded by the FTC but managed to settle without dipping into its copious coffers. Founder Mark Zuckerberg expressed his contrition through a familiar medium after the ruling.  —KA

AP via The New York Times:

The FTC said the settlement requires Facebook to get people’s approval before changing how it shares their data.

In a blog post, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company has made a “bunch of mistakes.” But he adds that this has often overshadowed the good work Facebook has done. He says Facebook has addressed many of the FTC’s concerns already.

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