Criticism of Facebook

• Facebook\'s decision to suspend the President on January 7 was the right one.
• "\nWhile the Board concluded that Mr. Trump should have been suspended from Facebook and Instagram, it also found that Facebook failed to impose a proper penalty.
• "\nWithin six months of the Board\'s decision, Facebook must reexamine this arbitrary penalty and impose one consistent with its own rules.
• The Oversight Board is focused on addressing some of the most significant content moderation decisions on Facebook and Instagram that are referred by both users and Facebook.\n'

• The proposed settlementrequires Flo Health, Inc. to, among other things, obtain an independent review of its privacy practices and get app users consent before sharing their health information.
• We are looking closely at whether developers of health apps are keeping their promises and handling sensitive health information responsibly.
• In its complaint,the FTC alleges that Flo promised to keep users health data private and only use it to provide the apps services to users.
• The FTC also issued guidance to consumers about health apps, with tips for consumers on how to select and use these types of apps while reducing privacy risks.

California Company Settles FTC Allegations It Deceived Consumers about use of Facial Recognition in Photo Storage App

• The proposed settlement requires Everalbum to delete:
  • the photos and videos of Ever app users who deactivated their accounts;
  • all face embeddings—data reflecting facial features that can be used for facial recognition purposes—the company derived from the photos of Ever users who did not give their express consent to their use; and
  • any facial recognition models or algorithms developed with Ever users’ photos or videos.
  • A California-based developer of a photo app has settled Federal Trade Commission allegations that it deceived consumers about its use of facial recognition technology and its retention of the photos and videos of users who deactivated their accounts.
  • As part of the proposedsettlement, Everalbum, Inc. must obtain consumers express consent before using facial recognition technology on their photos and videos.
  • The proposed order also requires the company to delete models and algorithms it developed by using the photos and videos uploaded by its users.
  • Using facial recognition, companies can turn photos of your loved ones into sensitive biometric data, Andrew Smith, Director of the FTCs Bureau of Consumer Protection, said.
  • Ensuring that companies keep their promises to customers about how they use and handle biometric data will continue to be a high priority for the FTC.
  • Everalbum allegedly enabled facial recognition by default for all mobile app users when it launched the Friends feature.
  • The FTCs complaint alleges that Everalbums application of facial recognition to Ever app users photos was not limited to providing the Friends feature.

• Since 2013, my organization, Stop Online Violence Against Women Inc., has extensively reported on the impact of Facebook's policies and lack of action to protect targeted users.
• I join this independent Oversight Board with high hopes for its success, but with the knowledge that statements made even recently by Facebook executives should be factored into any analysis produced by this Board.
• Stop Online Violence Against Women Inc is a nonprofit that addresses inadequate laws and policies that lack protections for women in particular women of color.
• We focus on online violence against women, laws and policy changes needed at the local, state, and federal levels.