Facebook faces possible privacy lawsuits in Canada
By Philip Ling,
Canwest News Service
July 2, 2010
"Facebook intentionally or negligently designs its privacy policies . . . in such a fashion as to mislead and induce users into putting their personal information and privacy at further risk," the statement of claim filed Friday reads.Photograph by: Thierry Roge, ReutersA Canadian law firm is targeting social-networking giant Facebook with potential class-action lawsuits over how the website has handled confidential information and privacy issues.“Facebook是故意地或者過失地設計它的隱私政策...以這樣的一種形式，去誤導和誘導用戶把他們的個人信息和隱私放在進一步的風險上，”聲明週五在 reads.Photograph提出由：ReutersA加拿大律師事務所的蒂埃里Roge，是針對社交網絡巨人 Facebook的，有潛在的集體訴訟在該網站如何處理機密資料和隱私問題。
The Regina-based Merchant Law Group LLP said Friday it is launching class actions on behalf of anyone who was "subject to misrepresentation and other wrongful practices by (Facebook Inc.) in regards to their personal information."
里賈納的商人法律集團事務所週五表示，它正在發起集體訴訟，代表任何人他是“受到虛假陳述及其它不當的行為來自（Facebook公司），有關他們的個人資料。”
The lawsuits would allege that Facebook changed its terms of service without proper communication, and that it changed users' privacy settings without proper consent, the law firm said in a 32-page statement of claim that was filed in the Court of Queen's Bench in Winnipeg on Friday.
訴訟將提出Facebook改變其服務條款而沒有適當的通知，兼且它改變用戶的隱私設置而沒有正當的授權，律師事務所在一份32頁的聲明中聲稱，那已在週五在溫尼伯的王座法院被提起訴訟。
"Facebook intentionally or negligently designs its privacy policies . . . in such a fashion as to mislead and induce users into putting their personal information and privacy at further risk," the claim reads.
The claim was filed in Manitoba because the province is one of the North American class-action jurisdictions that exercises authority nationally and internationally.
"Facebook shamelessly breached the privacy of people who trusted it, is what this claim asserts," lawyer Tony Merchant said in announcing the action.
"Everything from naked teenage pictures sent to boyfriends to confidential business and family secrets sent six or 10 years ago and likely forgotten now goes into the public domain is what the claim will establish," Merchant alleged.
Before a lawsuit can move forward as a class action, it must first be certified by the courts. That has not yet occurred in this case, nor have the allegations been proven in court.
The suit is seeking undetermined damages.
The suit alleges that Facebook on Feb. 4, 2009, "without proper communication to or agreement by its users," revised its terms of service "asserting broad, permanent, and retroactive intentions to reveal users' information."
Privacy changes by Facebook in April, November and December 2009, the suit alleges, made previously protected personal data — including the users' names, profile photos and friends lists — "publicly available information" without users' consent.
Those changes were "in breach of Facebook's contractual obligation to users to keep the users' personal information private," the statement of claim reads, "and amounted to the conversion of users' personal information for the benefit of Facebook."
Merchant's suit also cited changes to Facebook's policies that led to the sharing of personal information with the third-party software developers who build games and quiz applications that run inside Facebook, such as Farmville or Mafia Wars.
This is not the first time Facebook has faced the threat of being hauled before a judge over its privacy settings and how it shares personal information with outside companies.
In July 2009, a lengthy investigation by Canadian Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart singled out four problems the commissioner said put the site at odds with Canada's privacy law. Stoddart announced a few weeks later that Facebook had agreed to beef up privacy protocols to bring its operations into compliance with the country's privacy laws.
Since then, though, Facebook has made some changes to its settings that have raised the ire of the privacy commissioner.
Stoddart spoke openly in May about the possibility of a fresh investigation into Facebook for new violations of Canada's private-sector privacy act. She singled out "major concerns" over changes instituted in December that make more information about its users available by default and allow user information to be shared much more broadly than users expect.
"Although they've done some things right, in a few areas, they seem to have gone in the opposite direction, and that's been disappointing," a spokeswoman for the commissioner said at the time.
Merchant Law Group is no stranger to class-action suits; more than 80 active cases are listed on the firm's website. It was responsible for negotiating settlements for more than 10,000 residential school survivors as well as for the families of those who died from listeriosis during the Maple Leaf Foods recall.
Facebook did not immediately respond to requests for interviews regarding Friday's claim.
According to the research firm Inside Network, about 48 per cent of Canadians — or approximately 16 million — are on Facebook, making Canada one of the most Facebook-pervasive countries in the world.
http://www.canada.com/technology/Facebook+face+privacy+lawsuits+Canada/3229013/story.html
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