Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic files complaint with the Privacy Commissioner about Facebook
Canadian Privacy Law Blog: The Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) - Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) has filed a 35 page complaint with the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, alleging that Facebook violates the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act in at least eleven ways.
I just gave a presentation in Toronto on privacy and social networking sites. Social networking is very interesting and problematic from a privacy point of view. Unlike other online services, social networking sites are all about the collection, use and ultimate disclosure of personal information. Also, unlike other online services, it is the users (who sign up) who want their information to be disclosed. They want to know what their friends are up to and they want to reciprocate by providing this information to their friends and others. It can be fun and very useful for things like organizing parties, keeeping in touch and (as I’ve found out by reconnecting with most of my friends from grade 
reconnecting with people with whom you’ve lost touch. The key, from a privacy point of view, is making sure that the users are aware of what happens with their information and are given maximum control over how that information is used.
Being on the leading edge of this social networking revolution, Facebook has had its share of privacy blunders. Legions of its users freaked out when the company rolled out the “mini feed” without adequate notice, but now most users find this to be one of the greatest features. Similarly, the Beacon advertising service caused a huge uproar when introduced. Again, this was done without giving people adequate notice and in both cases they were introduced on an opt-out basis without the default being privacy protective.
The main issue, in my…