FACEBOOK

The government wants to share our information with social media groups like Facebook. Let me tell you a bit about the ethics of Facebook. Apparently they are “profiling” (I don’t know what else you would call it) people who don’t even have an account with them and who do not knowingly use their site.
I received some emails from Facebook wanting to know if I wanted to be someone’s “friend”. I am trying to figure out how Facebook gets my email address. The people I spoke with said they never gave it to Facebook; one said Facebook “just went in and took it” (whatever that means).
But on the last email, Facebook also listed other people that I know (interestingly, I never received a “do you want to be their friend on Facebook” email for some). I call that profiling, tracking people you communicate with. I am not registered with them and do not knowingly use their site but still they collect information on me. And obviously Facebook benefits from this information (and whoever they share it with) or they wouldn’t be collecting it.
In a letter (regarding another privacy complaint) on the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada website (OPC to CIPPIC – under Commissioners Findings – PIPEDA 2009) it states “On the issue of retaining non-user’s email addresses, Facebook confirmed it does not use email addresses to track the success of its invitation feature. In fact, it states that it does not keep a specific list of such addresses for its own use.” It appears that Facebook lied to the Privacy Commissioner.
I filed a complaint with the federal Privacy Commissioner’s office in May of 2010. The Privacy Commissioner’s office is “negotiating” with Facebook. I have asked the Privacy Commissioner’s Office not to negotiate away any more of my rights.
Facebook has had a number of privacy issues, yet the government wants to share with Facebook our personal, confidential information. This would give Facebook even more information for their profiling and, quite possibly, the government will get more information on us, such as a list of the people with whom we communicate.