Dec. 20, 2009 – Privacy gets a new face, Tulsa World

 

 

Statement in Response to FTC Complaint Filed Regarding Facebook Privacy Settings

How Facebook handles user reaction is more important than even an FTC complaint. Certainly the new privacy setting changes will lead to some Facebook users sharing information more widely, and that warrants privacy scrutiny and debate. Other users may use the new controls to make case by case decisions about what they share. The key question is whether users are aware of the settings and whether they are using them.

So far, many users seem to be aware of the changes and are adjusting the privacy controls as they see fit.  As people react to the new options, Facebook should continue to respond as they have done by continuing to add educational information and to adjust to ensure they meet user expectations.

FTC Exploring Privacy Roundtable

On December 7, 2009 the FTC hosted a public roundtable discussion to explore the emerging privacy issues posed by new technology and business practices. The day-long roundtable was moderated by Loretta Garrison and Chris Olsen, Federal Trade Commission and featured academics, advocates and industry experts. (link expired)

Panelists:

Lorrie Faith Cranor, Carnegie Mellon University

Allen Davidson, Google

Joel Kelsey, Consumers Union

Jules Polonetsky, Future of Privacy Forum

Adam Thierer, Progress & Freedom Foundation

Joseph Turow, University of Pennslyvania

Adam Westin, Columbia University

Dec. 10, 2009 – Facebook rolls out new privacy tool, MSN News

 

 

Dec. 9, 2009 – Facebook Change Gives Users More Privacy Controls, The Street

 

 

Facebook Change Gives Users More Privacy Controls

Facebook Change Gives Users More Privacy Controls

Associated Press

By Barbara Ortutay

December 9, 2009

Facebook is changing its privacy settings to give users control over who sees the information they post on their personal pages.

Beginning Wednesday, the networking Web site is taking the rare step of requiring its more than 350 million users to review and update their privacy settings.

The new controls are designed to simplify the cumbersome privacy controls that have confounded many users. Facebook said the changes are based on user feedback — though it remains to be seen whether the shift will mean fewer surprises for people who have unintentionally shared party photos with their bosses.

As part of the changes, Facebook users will be able to select a privacy setting for each piece of content, such as photos or updates, that they share on the site — as they share it. The choices are “friends” only, “friends of friends” or “everyone.” There is also an option to customize groups of friends for certain kinds of updates — such as “college buddies.”

Jules Polonetsky quoted:

“Jules Polonetsky, co-chairman and director at the Future of Privacy Forum think tank in Washington, praised how the process resembles the way people decide what to share in their day-to-day lives. He said putting the controls “when you need it, right there, is far better than putting it in a `privacy’ or `help’ location” somewhere on the site.”

To view the full article click here.

Facebook Rolls Out New Privacy Tool

Facebook Rolls Out New Privacy Tool

AFP

By Glenn Chapman

December 9, 2009

Facebook on Wednesday began calling on users to get a better grip on their online privacy by dictating who sees what in profiles at the world’s leading social networking service.

All of Facebook’s more than 350 million members will be required to refine settings with a new software tool that lets them specify who gets to be privy to each photo, video, update or other piece of content uploaded to the website.

Jules Polonetsky quoted:

“It is going to be far more intuitive for users,” Future of Privacy Forum director Jules Polonetsky said of the Facebook privacy control change.

“When we post something is when we think of whom we want it to go to, and this is the first time we will be able to do that.”

Regional networks, geographical community groupings that Facebook recently eliminated, led members to unwittingly share profile content with as many as millions of users, according to Polonetsky.

“Facebook has balanced more sharing with less of a chance people won’t realize who they are sharing with,” Polonetsky said.

This is the first time Facebook users will be able to make “discreet decisions on the fly” about individual posts and updates, he added.”

To view the full article please click here.

FPF Announces Four New Advisory Board Members

We are pleased to announce today four new Future of Privacy Forum advisory board members and supporters. We look forward to their guidance.

Ontario Privacy Commissioner Dr. Ann Cavoukian is recognized as one of the leading privacy experts in the world. An avowed believer in the role that technology can play in protecting privacy, Dr. Cavoukian’s leadership has seen her office develop a number of tools and procedures to ensure that privacy is protected in Ontario – and around the world. Businesses across North America and Europe regularly seek Dr. Cavoukian’s advice and guidance on privacy and data protection issues. She has been involved in a number of international committees focused on privacy, technology and business. Her ground-breaking 1995 paper with the Netherlands, on advancing privacy protection through the pursuit of privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs), is now part of the industry lexicon. Dr. Cavoukian is perhaps best known for her mantra of “Privacy By Design.” PbD seeks to embed privacy proactively deep into design, thereby ensuring its presence well into the future.

Dr. Kenneth E. Washington is the Vice President and Chief Privacy Leader of Lockheed Martin Corporation, a role he has served in since April 2008. As Lockheed Martin’s first chief privacy leader, Ken spent the first year building the corporation’s privacy program, setting the privacy strategy direction, and building a team of privacy professionals to execute the strategy. He now leads this team of privacy professionals and oversees all aspects of the organization’s commitment to responsibly manage personal information in accordance with federal, state, local, and international laws, customer requirements, and employee and stakeholder expectations. Ken is a Certified Information Privacy Professional, has a PhD in Nuclear Engineering from Texas A&M University, and is a fellow of the MIT Seminar XXI program on International Relations.

Omer Tene is a legal consultant admitted to practice in Israel and New York and an Associate Professor at the College of Management School of Law, Rishon Le Zion, Israel. He was appointed by the Minister of Justice as Member of the National Privacy Protection Council. He consults the Israeli government, data protection authority and private sector businesses on privacy, data protection and law and technology issues. He is a graduate of the JSD and LL.M. programs at NYU School of Law and received an MBA degree from INSEAD as well as LL.M. and LL.B. degrees from Tel Aviv University. Omer was an associate at the New York office of Debevoise & Plimpton and at the Paris office of Fried Frank and a Senior Research Fellow at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law in London, where he directed the Data Protection Group. He published articles in English, Hebrew and French on privacy and data protection, corporate bankruptcy and comparative financial regulation. You can also follow Professor Tene at http://twitter.com/omertene.

Scott Meyer is CEO of Better Advertising, a platform that simplifies the compliance process for the FTC’s and IAB Coalition’s Self-Regulatory Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising. Better Advertising’s experienced team of industry veterans has been working closely with FPF, NARC and many leading ad agencies, networks and advertisers to create their technology. The Better Advertising solution is intended to enhance trust in online advertising by regulators and consumers, and to help the industry make self-regulation a success.

Check out the Icons Live!

Both Yahoo! and AT&T have already implemented a trial run for one of the icons at www.green.yahoo.com/living-green/ and www.yellowpages.com, respectively. In addition, the two icons are now being tested with an internet survey of 2600 users to quantitatively determine their utility as a means of providing effective notice and to select the most effective symbol and language.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Future of Privacy Forum Unveils New Privacy and Personalization Symbols Finalists

Today Future of Privacy Forum (FPF) released two proposed icons designed to communicate to web users about the efforts of advertisers to tailor ads based on the websites they visit.

In February 2009, the Federal Trade Commission expressed concern that privacy policies were not being read or understood, and urged the industry to develop new methods of providing notice to users about behavioral advertising practices. Leading trade groups have drafted self regulatory principles requiring new notices to users to appear alongside ads or on web sites.

With this in mind, FPF partnered with a number of divisions of WPP, the global marketing communications company, to launch a consumer focused effort that would rely on the skill of advertising and communications professionals to engage users about efforts to provide relevant banner advertising. A creative team from Ogilvy designed a collection of symbols, Greenfield Research conducted focus groups to test the symbols that showed the most promise, and teams from Kantar Group and Lightspeed launched an online quantitative study. Leading academics Mary Culnan and Manoj Hastak worked with FPF director Jules Polonetsky to structure and design the consumer testing.

“Legal statements and privacy policies play a key role in binding companies to their online commitments,” said FPF co-chair Christopher Wolf. “But if the goal is communicating a complicated concept to users, it makes sense to turn to the best communications experts and challenge them to help companies communicate in terms consumers can understand.”

“Instead of focusing on privacy statements and disclaimers, we sought to openly tell consumers how companies were seeking to use data to tailor the ads they were shown,” explained Jules Polonetsky, FPF co-chair and director. “Only by being more transparent and dispelling the notion that behavioral advertising is a secret process can businesses partner with consumers to deliver personalization that will be valued.”

George V. Pappachen, Chief Privacy Officer at WPP’s Kantar Group, said, “Our approach was to create a touch-point that could engage users to learn more about the ads they are seeing. Both of these designs that have risen to the top of the list do just that.”

The icons are now being tested with an internet survey of 2600 users to quantitatively determine their utility as a means of providing effective notice and to select the most effective symbol and language.

One icon features a lowercase “i” with a partial circle around it. Focus group participants associated this image with “Information” links, interest-based ads, a power on/off switch alluding to the opt-out option, and the Internet in general.

The other leading symbol features an asterisk with a human-like shape. Focus group participants understand that the symbol indicates “personalization” and an alert that there was more information about the advertising available.

Polonetsky explained, “We do not think that simply displaying an icon and a few words is a full solution to the challenge of online privacy and personalization. Transparency needs to be supported with users having access to their profiles and with strict limits on use of sensitive data and children’s data. Opt-out choices need to work and data retention should be minimized. The entire process needs meaningful oversight and effective enforcement.”

“But the first step is respecting users enough to let them know what is going on. That is what we hope to accomplish with these symbols.”

The icon winner will be announced soon so please stay tuned for more information.

Please visit the links below to see our work on this topic.

Kick-Off Announcement:

http://fpf.org/2009/05/19/future-of-privacy-forum-announces-research-initiative-to-develop-effective-messages-to-communicate-with-users-about-online-data-use/

Comments by the FTC Chairman:

http://fpf.org/2009/05/20/kind-words-from-the-ftc-chairman/

Link to Relevant Research page on our Wiki:

http://fpf-noticeproject.wikispaces.com/Relevant+Research

Saul Hansell’s New York Times Bits Blog: “Seeking a Symbol for ‘This Ad Knows About You”