Facebook has reached an agreement with Germany over how Facebook handles non-users data accessed and used through other users’ accounts. At issue is the Friend Finder feature which imports email contacts from a current user’s email account and sends out emails prompting the non-user to sign up to Facebook. German authorities were concerned with how Facebook acquires those email addresses and how long those email addresses were retained on Facebook servers.
Johannes Caspar, Hamburg's Data Protection Authority head, said, "I think we could go further in the way of legal punishments but I think we have come to an end with this agreement. We think we have done a good job."
The agreement reached will force Facebook to notify non-users about how their email was acquired and to why they were sent an invitation. Non Facebook users receiving such an email will be able to opt out of future emails sent from Facebook.
To date, Germany is the only country to reach such a privacy agreement with Facebook. It is likely that other countries will hope to strike similar deals with Facebook and other data privacy collecting companies.
XX Non Facebook users receiving such an email will be able to opt out of future emails sent from Facebook.XX
Misses the point entirely.
WHY, MY time is wasted, MY computer gets filled up with crap, why should I have to BOTHER sayin "no thank you" to the dross?
And what the HEL is MY "Government" doing making "deals" with this shower? I never voted for them to "make deals", I voted for them to make LAWS. If FB, or any other dross company don't like it, then pull your service out of Germany. I am SURE you will NOT be missed.
Posted by: Furor Teutonicus | 26/01/2011 at 10:20 AM
This hardly new. I received an invite from someone who was an acquaintance of an acquaintance about eighteen months ago. Clearly Facebook harvested emails from the cc fields in his Outlook file, sending out a mass of emails to people this person did not know. The email came with an opt-out link. I used it and have heard nothing from Facebook since.
Posted by: Longrider | 26/01/2011 at 11:20 AM
@furor teutonicus
"WHY, MY time is wasted, MY computer gets filled up with crap, why should I have to BOTHER sayin "no thank you" to the dross?"
... so you want Facebook to stop bothering you.
"And what the HEL is MY "Government" doing making "deals" with this shower? I never voted for them to "make deals", I voted for them to make LAWS. If FB, or any other dross company don't like it, then pull your service out of Germany. I am SURE you will NOT be missed."
... but you don't want your elected representatives to persuade Facebook not to bother you.
Yes. THAT must BE annoying
Posted by: Richard Craven | 27/01/2011 at 11:47 AM