German Consumer Protection Minister Ilse Aigner has written an open letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, expressing her concerns about Facebook’s plans to further relax data protection regulations on the social networking site. “Should Facebook not be willing to alter its business policy and eliminate the glaring shortcomings, I will feel obliged to terminate my membership,” writes Aigner, acknowledging thus the low level of influence of political leaders to impose their point of view to American editors.
Indicating that she uses Internet “every day, both professionally and privately”, the minister emphasizes that “social networks are an enrichment and that it is difficult to imagine our lives without them”. That is why it is essential to strive for a better privacy protection: “private information must remain private, and I think that I speak for many Internet users in this respect”.
Calling on Facebook to revise its privacy policy without delay to ensure that the personal details of all members are subject to a high level of protection, Aigner demands that amendments to the social network’s terms of use be communicated in a clear and straightforward manner to all users.
Questioned by TechCrunch, a spokesman of Facebook wanted to thank “all of the users, advocates and experts, including Minister Aigner, who participated in the fifth comment period, which resulted in thousands of responses”. “We hope that Mrs Aigner and all of our users in Germany and around the world are encouraged by the openness and transparency we have and will continue to provide into Facebook’s governance”.
Calling on Facebook to revise its privacy policy without delay to ensure that the personal details of all members are subject to a high level of protection, Aigner demands that amendments to the social network’s terms of use be communicated in a clear and straightforward manner to all users.
Questioned by TechCrunch, a spokesman of Facebook wanted to thank “all of the users, advocates and experts, including Minister Aigner, who participated in the fifth comment period, which resulted in thousands of responses”. “We hope that Mrs Aigner and all of our users in Germany and around the world are encouraged by the openness and transparency we have and will continue to provide into Facebook’s governance”.
