International Law

There have been two big posts on this blog about Facebook this week.  The first was my Facebook focused Blawg Review #266 and the second was my explanation as to why instead of quitting Facebook I opened my profile to everyone.  Therefore I thought I'd just post a quick update on Facebook's attitude to privacy.

During the week the Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerburg gave a poor performance under pressure at the AllThingsD conference in Palos Verdes:

In a live interview at the AllThingsD conference in Palos Verdes, he stammered and sweated and often spoke in circles while discussing the issues that have drawn the attention of Congress and a growing number of angry Facebook users (some of whom staged a Quitting Facebook protest recently).

?We recommended (privacy) settings for people, we always do. And we ask that everyone go and review their settings and make a choice,? Zuckerberg began.

?We didn?t change any settings. That?s really important.?

Some have criticized Facebook as being too open with user information, or too complicated for users to implement privacy controls.

?The big feedback I got was that privacy settings were too complex,? said Zuckerberg. ?We built one main setting for everyone to use.?

But as the interview by AllThingsD's Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg continued, he grew increasingly nervous. At one point, Swisher suggested Zuckerberg take off his hoodie, which he did ? but even so, continued to sweat.  

?We continue to do what we think are the right changes, even if they are controversial, and it?s what we think people are counting on us to do as the leaders in the space,? he said.

Mossberg suggested that some users might feel that: ?You seem to have taken steps to make more public my information as a Facebook member on your own ? why is the management of the company saying they?re gonna take this information and do something with it??

Swisher chimed in, asking, ?Sharing means something different to you than to Walt? This is what privacy means??

Zuckerberg: ?Simple control has been one of the most important parts of using facebook. More than 50 percent of Facebook users have changed their privacy settings.?

Out in the hallway, the verdicts were brutal, with observers saying Zuckerberg seemed lost, in the midst of a panic attack or at the start of a meltdown.

Read more here.

Facebook responded to some of the criticism by launching a new page, Facebook and Privacy, which is designed to keep everyone up to date on Facebook's privacy policy and settings:

Today, we've launched a new Facebook and Privacy Page to complement the privacy guide we previously revamped on the site and a series of video tutorials we started publishing last week.

The Facebook and Privacy Page serves as a living resource and a venue to facilitate an interactive discussion about privacy with all of you. We'll regularly post updates on relevant new content, products and news stories related to online privacy. Already you'll find a repository of online privacy resources both from Facebook and outside experts, including our video tutorials on how to choose your settings as well as links to our privacy guide and FAQs.

Going forward, we'll be posting updates about new materials we create, tips on how to control your sharing and links to relevant news stories and viewpoints.

Visit the page here.  It seems as though Facebook is in full damage control mode at the moment.  It will be interesting to see if this flows through to any actual changes in Facebook's privacy policy or settings, as opposed to cosmetic changes and PR spin.