EPIC, the non-profit American organization for the protection of privacy on the Internet, is appealing to the Federal Trade Commission of the United States, denouncing as “unethical” the experiment that Facebook Inc. conducted, “with people’s minds”. As EPIC claims, the company did not have the explicit consent of the subject members. It is asking not only for the company to be punished but also for the algorithm that creates the Updates, which it “taught” during the controversial experiment, to be made public.
Despite the assurance of the scientists in the relevant study that the conduct of the experiment on which it was based was in accordance with Facebook’s privacy protection terms, EPIC insists that the terms,during the period in question, did not allow the use of members’ data for research purposes. The experiment took place during the week of January 11-18, 2012, and as EPIC documents, the change in the terms of use, which included the use of personal data for research purposes, occurred four months after the experiment was conducted.
In addition, the Center for Electronic Privacy reminds us that the company is under scrutiny based on a previous relevant decision by the FTC, according to which it is required to have the explicit consent of its members before sharing their data with third parties.
In 2011, it was revealed that one of Facebook's Big Lies was that it did not inform and did not give users from Europe the option to opt out of the provision of their personal data to third parties or for purposes different from those for which they consented when submitting it to the service.
Finally, regarding the News Feed (“Updates”), EPIC requests that its operating mode be published, which allowed the company’s scientists and collaborating third parties from Cornell and California universities. This is because the company describes the Updates as a list of announcements that is constantly updated with status announcements, photos and videos uploaded by “friends”, people or pages that each member follows. The only “intervention” that Facebook allegedly makes is to distinguish the “Top Announcements”, taking into account, for example, “how many comments were made, who published the announcement, what type of announcement it is (e.g. photo, video, status update, etc.)”. Furthermore, only users are allegedly able to adjust their settings for what they will or will not see in their Updates.
In Europe, the competent authorities regarding privacy, specifically the most competent in Ireland, where the company maintains its headquarters outside the US, as well as the corresponding British authority, are demanding explanations for Facebook's psychological experiment.
Source: tech.in.gr
