By Sandra Fulton, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 12:37pm
In a largely partisan vote, Senate Democrats defeated a resolution that would have overturned the FCC's open Internet rules that are set to go into effect this month.
By Caitlin O'Neill, Criminal Justice and Drug Policy Associate, ACLU of Northern California at 2:10pm
In the digital age that we live in today, we are constantly exposing our personal information online. From using cell phones and GPS devices to online shopping and sending e-mail, the things we do and say online leave behind ever-growing trails of personal information. The ACLU believes that Americans shouldn’t have to choose between using new technology and keeping control of your private information. Each week, we feature some of the most interesting news related to technology and civil liberties that we’ve spotted from the previous week.
By Caitlin O'Neill, Criminal Justice and Drug Policy Associate, ACLU of Northern California at 3:12pm
In the digital age that we live in today, we are constantly exposing our personal information online. From using cell phones and GPS devices to online shopping and sending e-mail, the things we do and say online leave behind ever-growing trails of personal information. The ACLU believes that Americans shouldn’t have to choose between using new technology and keeping control of your private information. Each week, we feature some of the most interesting news related to technology and civil liberties that we’ve spotted from the previous week.
By Chris Conley, Technology and Civil Liberties Fellow, ACLU of Northern California at 11:30am
Today Facebook is rolling out a series of changes to its privacy controls. We reviewed the changes in detail on Tuesday; now here’s how you can take advantage of these changes:
Turn On “Profile Review”
One of the biggest changes to Facebook’s privacy controls is the option to review any content you’re tagged in (including photos, Places, and more) before that content is fed into your news feed. You can also review any tags that are added to photos or other content that you post yourself.
By Chris Conley, Technology and Civil Liberties Fellow, ACLU of Northern California at 3:55pm
Facebook is working on a "privacy policy written for regular people." Giving users descriptions that they can actually understand is a great thing, and we're glad to see Facebook move in that direction. But, as we've pointed out with Facebook before, simpler isn't always better—and some parts of the proposed policy are pretty confusing anyhow. So we're glad that Facebook plans to make its new privacy policy simpler to read and understand—but we hope it will simply provide better controls and protection too.
By Nicole Ozer, Technology & Civil Liberties Policy Director, ACLU of Northern California at 2:02pm
This past weekend, the Wall Street Journal reported that the most popular Facebook apps consistently share information about you and your friends with advertisers and other third parties, no matter what your privacy settings are.
By Nicole Ozer, Technology & Civil Liberties Policy Director, ACLU of Northern California at 5:11pm
Facebook has been taking heat for its recent privacy-unfriendly practices, from the "privacy transition" that took away privacy controls to "instant personalization" that instantly shares personal information with third party pages without the user's consent. In response, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg published an op-ed in the Washington Post today, claiming that Facebook has "heard the feedback" and now realizes that "people want easier control over their information." But we don't just want simpler settings that limit our choices and force us to share information broadly or not at all—we want real control, and we want it to be the default.
In recent months, Facebook has rolled out some very privacy-unfriendly practices, from the "privacy transition" that took away privacy controls to "instant personalization" that instantly shares your personal information with third party pages without your consent. Tell Facebook loud and clear that you want control of your personal information.
By Tamar Gubins, ACLU of Northern California at 1:24pm
Company bigwigs who want to use our personal online information justify their actions by telling us that young people don't care about privacy. In January, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg claimed that privacy is no longer a "social norm," just after and just before Facebook significantly curtailed user privacy (yet again). Last year, Walt Disney CEO Robert Iger didn't mince words when he simply said "kids don't care" about privacy.
Facebook has been taking heat for its recent privacy-unfriendly practices, from the "privacy transition" that 