Your Boss Can't Read Your Email, Courts Say

Canadian concerns prompt changes in how apps get info

(NEWSER) - In response to criticism by the Canadian government, Facebook is enacting far-reaching changes in how third-party applications gain access to personal data, TechCrunch reports. Currently, Facebook applications ask users once, upon installation, for approval to access personal information. Under the new rules, the apps will have to ask repeatedly as they retrieve different types of data, as well as when they take information from other users’ pages. More»

(AP) - A Swiss government official is demanding that Google immediately remove any image of Switzerland from its "Street View Maps," and the company said today it would discuss the matter with the privacy rights regulator. Switzerland's federal data protection commissioner says Google's pictures violate the country's strict privacy laws by failing to obscure people's identities. More»

(NEWSER) - A group of Facebook users has sued the social networking company for violating consumer privacy laws by harvesting personal information for commercial purposes and failing to compensate clients, reports CNET. "Plaintiffs and the general public desire and expect a level of privacy, which Facebook has failed to satisfy," states the California lawsuit, which includes two children, a model, photographer and actress. Facebook officials insist the case has no merit. Canadian courts are currently cracking down on Facebook's access to user data. More»

Recognize that face in an ad? It could be your friend—or you.

(NEWSER) - Imagine Peter Smith’s surprise when an ad for “hot singles” on Facebook featured a picture of … his wife. The site blames that flap on a third-party company violating policy, but the incident underscores Facebook’s notoriously unclear privacy settings, writes Bob Sullivan for MSNBC: “A hard-to-spot toggle switch grants the firm, by default, permission to use consumers’ information in advertisements to their friends.” More»

(NEWSER) - Facebook suffers from "serious privacy gaps" and must become more transparent about how personal information is handled to comply with the law, says a government watchdog in Canada. The report by the country's privacy commissioner marks the first time a government has found Facebook to be acting illegally, reports the Financial Times. The commissioner's top concern: third-party applications that can access users' personal information without their knowledge. More»