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The Progressive

NewsWire

A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact: Phone: (202) 588-1000

Facebook Fails to Address Privacy Concerns in Proposed Class-Action Lawsuit Settlement

Facebook and Lawyers Will Benefit But Not Social Network’s Users

WASHINGTON

Facebook's solution to complaints that it violated the privacy
rights of potentially millions of its users is no solution at all,
Public Citizen said today in opposing the settlement of a class-action
lawsuit that was filed against the social networking giant.

The central piece of the proposed settlement is the creation of a
nonprofit foundation that would largely be controlled by Facebook. The
foundation would be charged with funding projects and initiatives that
"promote the cause of online privacy, safety, and security," which
Public Citizen attorney Greg Beck likens to putting the fox in charge
of the henhouse.

Under the proposed settlement, Facebook would pay $9.5 million into
a settlement fund, with as much as a third of that money going to pay
the class-action attorneys. The remaining money would go toward the
creation of the new privacy foundation. Facebook would choose one of
the foundation's three directors and have an equal say in the selection
of a second. Facebook has already selected its own chief lobbyist to
sit on the foundation's board.

At the heart of the class action lawsuit is Facebook's Beacon
marketing program. Facebook users complained that online purchases
they made from merchandisers participating in the Beacon program were
published on Facebook without their permission. Although under the
settlement Facebook would terminate Beacon, Facebook had already
essentially ended the program before the lawsuit was filed in response
to widespread negative publicity.

"Facebook and the lawyers in this case will benefit from this
proposed settlement, but it is virtually worthless to Facebook users
who are part of this class action," said Beck, who, along with D.C.
lawyer Philip Friedman and Mark Chavez of Chavez & Gertler in San
Francisco, represents D.C. resident Ginger McCall in her objection to
the proposed settlement. McCall was shocked when she learned that
Facebook had published on her profile the titles of movies she rented
from Blockbuster's Web site in 2007 and 2008..

There is no need for an online privacy foundation when several
nonprofit organizations dedicated to the issue already exist, Beck
said. It's also troubling that Facebook, a site whose very mission is
to make private details of its users readily available to the world at
large, would be involved in managing such a foundation, he said.
Additionally, closing the essentially defunct Beacon program is a token
gesture of no value to class members, Beck said.

Public Citizen is asking the court to reject the proposed settlement.

To view Public Citizen's objections, go to https://www.citizen.org/litigation/forms/cases/CaseDetails.cfm?cID=597.

Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization that champions the public interest in the halls of power. We defend democracy, resist corporate power and work to ensure that government works for the people - not for big corporations. Founded in 1971, we now have 500,000 members and supporters throughout the country.

(202) 588-1000