Facebook is on the verge of introducing a new privacy policy which will let the social network analyze the profile pictures of the users. However, several consumer rights groups have launched legal action against such an update, due to which Facebook has to delay the changes.
The new privacy policy changes, Facebook asserts, are simply meant to clarify its current data policies. However, many consumer rights groups, specifically the ones focused on privacy rights, have opposed the move and launched a legal effort against it.
According to a NYT letter by these groups, “Under the proposed policy, Facebook may create advertisements using an individual’s ‘name, and profile picture, content, and information.” In other words, the groups allege that Facebook intends to make commercial use of the profile picture and other new information it intends to gather from the users.
Facebook, on the other hand, is facing the heat of this opposition. The company has not only delayed the new privacy changes, it may have to face the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) soon. One of the key contentions of privacy rights groups is that Facebook is violating an agreement it penned with FTC according to which, Facebook must tell the users what data it intends to use and what it wouldn’t.
For now, Facebook has delayed the directive on the pretext that it is trying to take the recommendations of the users into consideration. However, given the current spate of legal actions opposed to the move, Facebook may have to let go of it entirely.
Courtesy: The Verge
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