Senate Dems calling again for changes to Facebook's privacy settings

Four Senate Democrats are imploring Facebook to ask users' permission before sharing their information with select websites and third-party advertisers.

In a letter sent Tuesday to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Michael Bennet (D-Col.), Mark Begich (D-Alaska) and Al Franken (D-Minn.) instead asked the company to implement an opt-in approach, in order to protect users who would prefer to keep most of their profiles private.

The 400-million strong social network recently debuted an "instant personalization" feature that allows select websites to cull a user's profile information, unless those users later decline to participate. Additionally, the site debuted its Open Graph API last week, which allows sites or applications to draw details from Facebook pages to be used in special ads or targeted offers.

Schumer first expressed discomfort about those features in a letter to the Federal Trade Commission this weekend, specifically taking issue with Facebook's decision to opt all users into the system automatically. He later called on the FTC to establish guidelines for how all social networks could share users' private information with other sites.

However, Facebook responded on Sunday, noting the company hoped to work with lawmakers to address some of their concerns. But the explanation did not seem to satisfy Schumer, who along with three other Senate Democrats issued another plea to Facebook on Tuesday and scheduled a press event to air their additional grievances.

In that letter, obtained this morning by The Hill, the lawmakers questioned whether data aggregated by advertisers and other third-party sites remains on those companies' servers "indefinitely."

The four lawmakers also asked Facebook to make changes to a new feature that they believe "obligates users to make publicly available certain parts of their profile that were previously private." They also pressed the company to address whether a user's personal information could become public if one of his or her friends does not opt out of the program.

Moreover, they described the entire opting out process as "complicated and confusing to navigate," and they repeated their calls that Facebook change this to an opt-in system.

"We hope that Facebook will stand by its goal of creating open and transparent communities by working to ensure that its policies protect the sensitive personal biographical data of its users and provide them with full control over their personal information," the lawmakers wrote. 

"We look forward to the FTC examining this issue, but in the meantime we believe Facebook can take swift and productive steps to alleviate the concerns of its users," they continued. "Providing opt-in mechanisms for information sharing instead of expecting users to go through long and complicated opt-out processes is a critical step towards maintaining clarity and transparency."

Soon after receiving the lawmakers' letter, Elliot Schrage, Facebook's vice president of Global Communications, Marketing and Public Policy, offered a reply, stressing "our highest priority is to keep and build the trust of the more than 400 million people who use our service."

"We look forward to meeting with your staff soon to explain how the collective changes we announced last week will result in more control for users, not less," he wrote. "We also look forward to answering any questions and alleviating any concerns you or your colleagues may have."

"We welcome a continued dialogue with you and others because we agree that scrutiny over the handling of personal data is needed as Internet users seek a more social and interactive experience," Schrage continued. "Facebook is a leader in transparency of our policies, notification to our users, and security of their data."