Another Reason Not to Use Facebook

Privacy on Facebook? Zuckerberg said privacy was a quaint, antique kind of notion. And then went on to prove it. Facebook forced to overhaul privacy policy after regulator finds it is 'unfair and deceptive' | Mail Online

The eight-count complaint made public last night by the FTC lays bare how the company, which makes £1.1billion a year from advertising, shamelessly exploits its users for its own gain.

It states that since 2007 areas of concern include broken promises not to share personal information with advertisers.

Facebook told users that third-party applications would only have access to the user information needed to operate, but in reality they accessed all of their personal data even if they did not need it.

The website told users they could restrict sharing of data to a limited audience, but even then it was still being shared with third-party applications their friends used.

Little things like US and EU laws on international data transfer were also not worth abiding by.

Facebook makes a ton of money on advertising. They do that by respecting your privacy. Or keeping promises.

Some of the things they permitted could have aided in identity theft, but it isn't clear if it did.

Perhaps the most serious charge was that Facebook falsely claimed that when users deactivated or deleted their accounts their photos and videos would be inaccessible.

In reality it still allowed others to access the content.

I don't even like friends to post pictures of me on their Facebook pages. But then I have this antiquated notion that privacy might mean something.

The thing I don't understand is why no fine? It isn't like they can't afford to pay. Years of close supervision, and threat of future fines, but no fines for past misdeeds. Seems a bit unfair.