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Spotlight Forces Facebook Retreat from Anti-Privacy ISP Alliance

Google, AT&T, Verizon, Comcast and Facebook all breathlessly insist that they support consumer privacy. Several of them have even stated that they support new privacy legislation. But this collection of companies and one time adversaries have increasingly joined forced to try and stop any meaningful privacy protections from actually taking root. One such recent example is in California, where the companies have been collectively lying to lawmakers in an effort to scuttle some fairly reasonable privacy safeguards being proposed in the state.

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California's proposal closely mirrored the FCC privacy rules ISPs and Silicon Valley companies lobbied the GOP and Trump administration to kill last year.

Both proposals simply required that companies be transparent about what private data is collected and sold, while requiring that companies provide working opt out tools (opt in, if sensitive financial data is to be shared). But Google, Facebook, AT&T and Comcast lobbyists repeatedly lied to California lawmakers, claiming that even these modest solutions would somehow harm children, damage internet security, and even "embolden extremists." Absolutely none of it was true, notes the EFF.

"One of the most offensive aspects of the misinformation campaign was the claim that pretending to restore our privacy rights, which have been on the books for communications providers for years, would help extremism," notes the group. "In addition to national security scaremongering, the industry (circulated this document) that attempted to play off fears emerging from the recent Charlottesville attack by white supremacists."

With Facebook trying to improve its image in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, the company this week quietly stated it would be withdrawing from opposing California's privacy initiatives, the latest incarnation of which should show up on state ballots this November.

Facebook's retreat was first reported by San Fransisco CBS affiliate KPIX 5.

"We're gratified that Facebook has dropped its opposition to the California Consumer Privacy Act. Now that they have seen the error of their ways, we hope they will work with us proactively to protect the personal information of all Californians, and support us publicly and financially," said initiative proponent Alastair Mactaggart.

"Google, AT&T, Verizon & Comcast: if you are not selling our personal information, why are you spending a million dollars to oppose us?"
The group was quick to highlight that Facebook was alone in its withdrawal of opposition.

"Google, AT&T, Verizon & Comcast: if you are not selling our personal information, why are you spending a million dollars to oppose us?" Mactaggart inquired. "Voters overwhelmingly support this measure, and protecting consumers is not only a good business decision, but the right thing to do. It's time to stop business as usual and to step up and do the right thing."

Knowing their positions are unpopular, AT&T, Verizon, Comcast and Google don't much like to publicly talk about said opposition. After all, it's hard for them to acknowledge that they see informed, empowered customers as a problem, given they're more likely to opt out of private data monetization schemes, costing them money in the process.

That said, while this week's grilling of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg may not result in tangible action by a notably-cash-compromised Congress, it did at least shine a spotlight on Facebook (and the broadband industry's) often phony support of genuine consumer privacy protections in general, and their ugly behavior in California in particular.


Most recommended from 37 comments


microphone
Premium Member
join:2009-04-29
Parkville, MD

22 recommendations

microphone

Premium Member

You are the product

It's hard for a company to support privacy if it is the invasion of such that is ultimately the business model.

telcodad
MVM
join:2011-09-16
Lincroft, NJ

13 recommendations

telcodad

MVM

It's amazing what a little congessional grilling can do!

 
From Californians for Consumer Privacy: Facebook Withdraws Opposition to California Consumer Privacy Act
California Ballot Measure Empowers Consumers to Take Back Control of Personal Information

Californians for Consumer Privacy press release, PR Newswire - April 11, 2018
»www.prnewswire.com/news- ··· 611.html

Maybe they should arrange for the CEOs of Google, AT&T, Verizon and Comcast to go before congress too?

TIGERON
join:2008-03-11
Boston, MA

6 recommendations

TIGERON

Member

Why does he look as if he is constipated

Watching Zuckerberg getting questioned by government officials you can clearly see he is about to shit himself.

Glad I am finally off that crap platform.
Thistool
join:2013-12-05
Auburn, WA

5 recommendations

Thistool

Member

Is this the death of FaceBook??

Opinion question ? Dont care never had a Facebook Never going to have one. Just askin?

cb14
join:2013-02-04
Miami Beach, FL

1 edit

3 recommendations

cb14

Member

Time to move to paid services.

Regulate ISPs, not Facebook.
Create a system where internet costs as much as in other developed countries( except Canada) which would be about 1/3 of what we are paying now and let us use the freed up funds for paying for services.
Nothing is 'free'. Free means either someone else is paying or you are the product. How are companies like Facebook or Google supposed to provide all the services without income? By flooding you with ads and selling your data.Or even worse.
It is amazing that people in the U.S. are willing to pay obscene amounts of money to ISPs but expect everything else to be ' free'.

imanogre
join:2005-11-29
Smyrna, GA

2 recommendations

imanogre

Member

I work in data security and fraud prevention

It's difficult to distinguish fraud from legitimate users without reviewing some type of sensitive data. Whether that be an email, a device ID, location, etc.

As much as I loathe these companies, there is some validity to them COLLECTING some of this data for security. I can even see sharing the data as well with a third party who's goal is to validate the data (say, is the phone a non fixed VOIP).

And there are a lot of fraudsters on facebook, Raybans for 29 dollars anyone?