Lawmakers question Facebook on privacy

A bipartisan group of lawmakers wrote to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday asking for details on the site’s privacy practices following its recent settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.

The social networking giant recently settled a complaint from the FTC by agreeing to implement a comprehensive privacy program including outside audits every two years for the next two decades. Facebook has also agreed not to misrepresent its privacy practices or face fines for each future violation.

“With great opportunity comes great responsibility, and with more than 800 million active users and an untold number of nonusers visiting Facebook or partnering websites every day, your company has the opportunity to collect vast amounts of data about an enormous number of people,” wrote Reps. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), Joe Barton (R-Texas) and Edward Markey (D-Mass.).

“We look forward to reviewing the letter from Chairman Stearns and Ranking Member DeGette [of the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations] and we are pleased to answer any questions they may have,” a Facebook spokesman said via email.

The lawmakers asked Zuckerberg to explain Facebook’s tracking and information-collection practices, including what data the firm collects from both users and non-users. They also ask if Facebook offers users a way to opt out of all information collection and to explain how it treats user’s personal data.

“We live in an age of information, which requires careful protection of our privacy,” Stearns said.

“In the recently announced settlement reached by the Federal Trade Commission with Facebook, the FTC outlined a number of incidents since 2009 where consumers were misled about the treatment of their personal information.”

The lawmakers requested answers to their questions no later than Jan. 3.