18 June 2009 | Author: L. Sutherland Head of Media Content

Facebook - showdown at the EU corral

While Facebook has been flying high for what is undoubtedly a long time in the fast-paced world of the internet, the social networking sweetheart could be facing a swift plunge into the doldrums as European regulators consider new policies to protect users.

According to irreverent tech news site The Register, regulators are pondering ways in which to prevent websites from over-exploiting the private data of their users - bad news for Facebook if it's hoping to profit from its extensive user data.

Proposed changes could result in an extension of European data protection rules to third party application developers that function by using social networking profile data and would apply to all firms operating in Europe - not just those based there.

Facebook is awash with third party applications that tend to amuse and annoy users in equal measures. However, these add-ons aren't merely there to make the site more attractive: they also function as a lucrative venture for Facebook.

The Financial Times managed to get hold of an unpublished opinion paper from a group comprising Europe's national data-protection and privacy commissioners - dubbed the Article 29 working party - that acts as an advisory body to the European Commission. The paper said that rules concerning piracy needed to be tightened and, while it does not carry the weight of the law, it is designed to guide national regulators.

According to the FT, Facebook responded to the paper by stating: "The opinion issued by the Article 29 working group on social networking services is an important step in providing the industry with practical guidance for their operations in the EU. It will now need to be assessed in detail by all companies with services in this area."

Privacy is already a touchy subject for Facebook. The social networking site is known to have left a stream of privacy complaints in its wake on its road to fame. In order to survive this latest blow and continue to draw more friends into its ranks, Facebook might do well to think about sharing its secrets with users rather than passing their information onto third parties.

Home | Careers | RSS | Contact Us | Newsletter

International sites: