Changes to Facebook’s Terms of Service Exclude Billions from New EU Privacy Laws
Facebook have had a lot of negative press in recent times,
largely due to the uproar surrounding the Cambridge Analytica Scandal which even
progressed so far as to force Mark Zuckerberg himself to appear before the
federal court. Well, cue another wave as Facebook recently announced changes to
their terms of service which make them look more than a little shady in light
of recent revelations.
Reuters
report that as of next month, Facebook are amending their polices so as to
remove the platform’s estimated 1.5 billion registered users outside of the EU,
US, and Canada from the protection offered by European privacy laws. As it
stands these countries, which include parts of Africa, Asia, Australia and Latin
America, are governed by terms of service agreed with the company’s
international headquarters in Ireland. However with the EU’s General Data Protection
Regulation (GDPR) coming into effect from May 25th, Facebook seem intent on
ensuring this is no longer the case by that time. These users will instead be
governed by Facebook Inc. in the US, which is subject to softer privacy laws.
The motive is likely financial given that the new terms set
out by the GDPR allow for fines of up to 4% of annual global revenue for companies
in breach of the new regulations. After all, Facebook were only ever based in
Ireland for financial gain in the first place, as they were able to take
advantage of the country’s low corporate tax rates. Facebook themselves however
insist that the change is being made in response to the privacy notices
required by the EU, “because EU law requires specific language”.
Facebook have also hinted that they would apply the same
privacy protections to users worldwide regardless of their location; however
the change in policy would mean they are under no obligation to do so and while
some may call me cynical, I would expect them to opt for profit over privacy.
Stephen Deadman, Deputy Chief Global Privacy Officer at
Facebook, attempted to allay these fears when commenting on the policy change:
“The GDPR and EU consumer law set out specific rules for
terms and data policies which we have incorporated for EU users. We have been
clear that we are offering everyone who uses Facebook the same privacy
protections, controls and settings, no matter where they live,” said Deadman.
Sam
is an aspiring novelist with a passion for fantasy and crime thrillers.
Currently working as Editor of Social Songbird, he hopes to one day drop that
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Changes to Facebook’s Terms of Service Exclude Billions from New EU Privacy Laws
Reviewed by Unknown
on
Thursday, April 19, 2018
Rating:
Reviewed by Unknown
on
Thursday, April 19, 2018
Rating:
Unknown
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