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STATES CHRONICLE – Facebook announced that all affiliated developers are prohibited from using user data for surveillance purposes. The ban covers all situations including known activists and protesters. While most people are pleased with the company’s decision to protect user information, some are arguing that Facebook’s decision protects terrorists.
The Policy is Not New
During Monday’s press release, Facebook representatives announced that the privacy policy is not new. The rules existed before; they just felt it necessary to make them more explicit. Moreover, they took advantage of the opportunity to announce that all third-party developers who marketed Facebook surveillance tools have been warned to renounce their practices.
The release comes after both Facebook and Instagram were accused by the American Civil Liberties Union of leaking user data to Geofeedia, a company that produces monitoring devices for the American authorities.
At the time, the ACLU declared that neither Facebook nor Instagram had a well-defined privacy policy that forbids developers from appropriating Facebook data and using it for surveillance purposes.
Others Joined the Fight Against Internet Surveillance
After Facebook’s declaration, Twitter joined the fight against internet surveillance by stating that it, too, will not tolerate any information leak, even if the data belongs to known activists or protesters.
“Using Twitter’s Public APIs or data products to track or profile protesters and activists is absolutely unacceptable and prohibited.”
The ACLU and the Colors of Change, a non-profit civil rights advocacy organization, both congratulated Facebook for its attempt to keep private information confidential.
“We command Facebook and Instagram for this step and call on all companies […] to stand up and limit invasive social media surveillance.”
Mark Zuckerberg Takes a Stand Against the Government
The creator of the social media platform took to Facebook numerous times to voice his opinion on the Government’s attempt to hack both Facebook and Instagram’s servers in order to get access to all user data.
According to him, a strong internet is a secure one. Zuckerberg detailed that his team is constantly trying to upgrade the security layers, but they want to keep investing funds in security to make sure that all the information is safe from malevolent hackers, not the United States government who should also strive to protect the privacy of its citizens.
The fight against internet surveillance is not new, social media platform having to fight government agencies every step of the way.
Image Source: Pixabay
