Canada changes Facebook
Canada has made international legal history with a recent decision by the Canadian Commissioner for Privacy. Jennifer Stoddart investigated a complaint filed with the Commission by the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic, (CIPPIC) which outlined 12 privacy problem areas on Facebook. Facebook Inc co-operated fully with her investigation and the result is an adjudication released on August 27, 2009. (www.priv.gc.ca/cf-dc/2009_008_0716_e.cfm)
Her case summary lists four areas in need of remediation: default privacy settings; disclosure of users’ personal information to 3rd party application developers; collection and use of personal information for advertising purposes; and the collection and use of non-users’ personal information. A major area of concern was the indefinite retention of information, even after accounts were closed. The Commissioner and Facebook have agreed that the company will have one year to address and fix these problems, and that the solutions will apply to the entire international Facebook community of over 200 million users and not just in Canada.
Michael Geist, a Professor with the Faculty of Law at the University of Ottawa, and one of Canada’s foremost experts on privacy law calls the settlement “remarkable” and a “major success for Canadian Privacy. On his website www.privacyinfo.ca, he recommends reading the Commissioner’s letter to CIPPIC for the best summary of the Commissioner’s findings.
The letter is at www.priv.gc.ca/media/nr-c/2009/let_090827_e.cfm
UPDATE: Michel Giest has written further about the case in his column at TheTyee.ca.
Like us on Facebook