Pressure group says Facebook could accede to data publication requests

Post by Steven Cox on 8th February 2012
 in Social media

Facebook may be about to disclose details of the types of data it collects about its users.

The claim comes from a group of students from Austria which has been pressing the social networking company to tighten up its procedures for safeguarding users' privacy.

The group, Europe-v-facebook.org, met Facebook representatives yesterday (Tuesday), and said afterwards that progress had been made on persuading the company to release more details of the type of data it holds on users, as well as on how access to it will be regulated.

Max Schrems, a spokesman for the group, told the Reuters news agency: "The main issue is that they have limited resources, especially for the access requests."

He added that he thought Facebook would try to avoid having to make its raw data openly available.

The investigation is being overseen by the Irish data protection commissioner, who has already said that, under current policies, Facebook users risked unknowingly making personal details publicly available.

According to Reuters, Schrems' group has filed 22 complaints against Facebook, mainly concerning allegations that it gathers personal data without owners' consent, which many thought they had deleted.