The class discussion will be social networks and privacy, so focus on privacy when completing the reading. Please come to class with a proposal for how you would address the privacy problems described in some of the articles below. Does that proposal fall into a specific category? For example, is it a purely legal solution, a purely technological solution, a hybrid solution, or none of those? Do you have a sense of which category of solution is optimal to addressing privacy concerns on social networks? Please think of the advantages and disadvantages affiliated with each category of solution.

An Introduction to Social Networks

1. For a quick background on what qualifies as a social network, read Part III (pgs. 12-17) of Patricia Sánchez Abril’s, Recasting Privacy Torts in a Spaceless World, 21 HARV. J.L. & TECH. 12-17 (2007). The entire article is available here.

Social Networks and Privacy

1. Go to Spokeo.com and Pipl.com. Both of these services aggregate information from public sources and social networking sites to create a profile for a given person. Type in your name and search for yourself. Are you surprised that this information is available? Is the information accurate?
2. Privacy—a legal background
• For a primer on privacy torts and their application to cyberspace, read Part II (pgs. 7-12) and Part IV (pgs. 17-27) of Patricia Sánchez Abril’s, Recasting Privacy Torts in a Spaceless World, 21 HARV. J. L. & TECH. 7-12, 17-27 (2007). The entire article is available here.
3. Privacy Concerns
• Read this New York Times article on social networks, personal identity, and emerging privacy issues.
• Read the prepared testimony of the Executive Director of EPIC (Electronic Privacy Foundation), Marc Rotenberg.
• For an idea of how technological bugs on social networking sites can affect privacy, read this entertaining Wall Street Journal blog post about a 2010 Facebook glitch. Some readers responded negatively to the post and stated that the writer violated the privacy of the users. Others defended him by stating that Facebook was responsible for the invasion of privacy. Scroll down to writer Zach Seward’s response to his readers and read it. The post is dated 4:14 pm on February 27, 2010 and starts with the sentence, “Wow, thanks, everyone for the great thread!”

Potential Solutions

The New York Times article from the section of the syllabus entitled “Social Networks and Privacy” outlines a number of solutions to the privacy issue. These solutions can be broken down into a few rough categories.

1. Technological

   Facebook introduced changes to its user profiles in December 2010. Information that had previously been private, such as friends, relationship status, and family relationships, soon became public information. Roughly four months later, Facebook introduced its Open Graph, which shared a user’s profile information with Facebook partner sites.

   • External technological response: In response to Facebook’s privacy changes, four NYU students founded Diaspora, a social network service that grants users more control over their own data. Read about the service and the summer release of its source code over here.
   • Self-directed technological response: In May, Facebook responded to the backlash by introducing granular privacy controls for its users.

2. Legal
   • Cases
   • Read the complaint for Lane et. al v. Facebook, Inc., a case, which eventually settled. The class action complaint, dated August 1, 2008, is available in pdf form over here. If you would rather read it in your browser, go here.
     • Read the following: pgs. 19-34 (top); paragraph 90 in the section entitled “Class Allegations” on pg. 34; and the section entitled “Count I, Violations of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act” on pgs. 40-43.
   • The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has also stepped in to protect consumer privacy in the past, albeit in the e-commerce context. A notable instance is when the FTC sued Toysmart.com. Please read that brief summary.
   • Scholarship
• Joseph Turow et. al suggest that the FTC should police the use of the words “privacy policy.” The paper addresses e-commerce rather than social networks but the proposal is applicable to social networks. His piece is available here. Click the “download” button on the upper-right corner of the page. Read pages 1-4. Skim the rest.
3. Or is the public desire for privacy simply changing?
   • In 1999, Scott McNealey of Sun Microsystems was asked about the consumer privacy concerns surrounding Sun’s new technology linking consumer devices. His response with respect to online privacy? “You have zero privacy anyway. Get over it.”* More than 10 years later, in an interview with Techcrunch, Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, suggested that the proliferation of blogging and social networks has shifted social norms regarding privacy. Listen to his brief talk with Michael Arrington. The relevant portion begins at 2:30 and ends at 4:05 of the video.

Optional

1. Facebook’s recently changed how “Groups” work on its network. The change ignited yet another discussion on privacy. There is an ongoing Slashdot discussion about the situation.
2. NPR has an interesting discussion (audio and transcript are both available) on how to protect your privacy on social networks.
3. Michael Zimmer’s blog has a post on “The Laws of Social Networking.”

*Polly Sprenger, Sun on Privacy: “Get Over It”, WIRED, Jan. 26, 1999, available at http://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/1999/01/17538. You don't have to read this article. I was just attributing the quotation to a source.