| I think there’s a few points here and although some replies have very valid points others completely stray from the issues that "Europe vs facebook" is making. 1. Facebook has bases, and operates, in Europe. Thus they MUST abide by our data laws. This means that, under our European laws they MUST supply ALL information they have on people. Currently this is not being done and as such they are breaking the law by not providing ALL information they hold on people. If they want to have HQ's in Europe and want Europeans to use their service they must abide by our laws, this is regardless if we as a user decide to sign up or not. These laws cannot at anytime be waived REGARDLESS if it is indeed us as Europeans deciding to use their service. 2. Quite simply, if they offer the option of "deleting" posts/likes/mails, then they should do just that, delete it. Anything other than this and they are quite blatantly misleading users. 3. They SHOULD NOT be gathering information on ANYONE who does not use their service. This is not legal and should not be allowed to happen. The old saying "knowledge is power" comes to mind, but these "big corporations" should not be able to gather data on people who have no connection what-so-ever to their company/services. Britain recently has been rocked by such scandals as phone hack etc aswell as the big argument about Google cars collecting data from wireless networks that they were not authorised to do so from. Is facebook gather information on people who have no connection to them any different from hacking someone’s phone and listening to their messages? Or any different from a Google car passing your home and gathering information for your wireless network? My opinion is that it isnt any different. New of the world have had to pay out massive amount of compensation to the people who could prove that their phones were hacked. It is a breach of privacy and more importantly, THE LAW. Google also had to agree to delete all information gathered by its Google cars as this was deemed to be illegally collected. Facebook should be made to adhere to our laws if they wish to be present in our countries. Thus they should be made to supply ALL information held on people who make subject access requests, they should delete all e mails/post/likes that have been deleted by the original (or any recipicants) and should also delete ALL information they have gained about people who no longer/have never used their service. I joined facebook when it first came out as would say i was pretty young and naive, I didnt read all the agreements etc and certainly didn’t know what I was signing myself up for (alot of which has not came out until recently). If facebook want to use the argument that everyone who signs up agree to their t&c then they should respect the fact that only peoples over the age of 18 should be allowed to join in Europe. (this is currently not the case with children as young as 8 and their pet dogs having profiles).... Facebook cant have it all their own way and must respect the laws of the land, PERIOD. |
1) The analogy between hacking your phone and reading messages is really NOT the same as Facebook storing data that you supplied to their system.
2) Google did nothing that should be considered illegal regardless of what European courts decided. The data they collected was on OPEN WIFI routers. This is the same as being accused of breaking the law because you listen while having a conversation in a crowded room. Open wifi comes with the implicit idea, that the owner of the router is actively allowing others to use the router.