Privacy groups claim Facebook changes violate the Federal Trade Commission

The social media giant thought it could revise its privacy guidelines without anyone knowing. It was wrong.

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Facebook recently met a considerable backlash after the release of its revised privacy policy.

On Aug. 29, Facebook announced it rewrote a privacy policy to go into effect Sept. 5 that gives Facebook the right to put Facebook-user information in advertisements at Facebook’s discretion. The new measures were prompted by a class-action lawsuit that established Facebook must get consumer consent before sharing information beyond their privacy settings.

For communicators who administer Facebook pages, it’s yet another change they must consider.

Officially, the policy states:

“You give us permission to use your name, profile picture, content, and information in connection with commercial, sponsored, or related content (such as a brand you like) served or enhanced by us. This means for example, that you permit a business or other entity to pay us to display your name and/or profile picture with your content or information, without any compensation to you.”

Facebook can now use your profile information in advertisements without your consent. Whether you like Nike or not, you may be endorsing its next version of Michael Jordan basketball shoes.

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