I received an email from Instagram
asking me to sign off on a new privacy policy that encompasses the Facebook,
Instagram, and Messenger platforms. After review, I have huge concerns about this. I use
these platforms to stay in touch with my old shipmates, friends around the
world, business contacts, and even my children. As of today, I have 1,925
friends on Facebook, 117 on Instagram, and 168 on Messenger.
A brief review of the policy
suffices to convince me that Facebook, et
al. (“Facebook”) collects a tremendous amount of information. I don’t believe a warrant could be obtained anywhere
in the United States that covered the depth and breadth of information that we
voluntarily provide. More importantly, what recourse do we have if Facebook gets
it wrong? Does a cause of action accrue
from metrics determined from your browsing habits? Every time you click the “you won’t believe .
. .” link, a flag is placed deep in the bowels of the beast. Data aggregators
do not always get it right. If they did, your credit report would be flawless
(that’s another post for another time).
·
Location of photos,
·
Dates of file creation,
·
What “you” see through “our” camera (!),
·
Content and communications you and others
provide to “analyze context”,
·
Religious and political views, who you are
interested in , and your health,
·
Racial and ethnic origin, philosophical beliefs,
and union membership,
·
People, pages, accounts, hashtags, and groups
you are connected to, and how you interact across platforms and products,
·
Content you view or engage with,
·
Features you use,
·
Actions you take,
·
People or accounts you interact with,
·
Time, frequency, and duration of your activities,
·
Posts, content, and videos you view,
·
Identifiers, device IDs, Bluetooth signals, nearby
Wi-Fi access points, beacons, and cell towers,
·
GPS location, camera, and photos,
·
Other devices on your network,
·
Data from cookies stored on your device(s),
including cookie IDs and settings,
Well, certainly nothing to worry about here!
Turning toward the “Terms of Use”
provisions, the first thing is the binding, individual, arbitration notice. You
waive the right to participate in a class action lawsuit, or class-wide
arbitration. Arbitration is paid for by them, with an arbitrator of their
choice, so you're certain to get a fair hearing, after which you will lose. Call me or email if you need this explained.
The provisions on intellectual property are interesting, and
I’ll parse them out:
·
Facebook does not claim ownership of your
content
·
When you share, post, or upload content, you
grant a:
·
Non-exclusive,
·
Royalty free,
·
Transferable,
·
Sub-licensable,
·
Worldwide
license to host, use, distribute,
modify, run, copy, publicly perform or display, translate, and create derivative
works of your content. You also grant permission to use your username and
profile picture in connection with commercial advertising.
The Navy taught
me to always look at capability, rather than intent when evaluating things like
these terms. The law has taught me that scienter
is not necessary for grave harm to occur. I fear that individuals or groups
with dishonorable intentions will find a way into this data and use it for criminal
purposes.
To all of my 1,925 friends:
Please do stay in touch, either through
email at paul@manigrassocpa.com or
my websites at http://TexasLuxuryLaw.com
and http://ManigrassoCPA.com.
I recommend that
you consider your situation as to whether these products are right for you and
your family. After giving it
considerable thought, my personal choice is to discontinue these accounts to
ensure that my clients and family are as protected as possible against any sort
of data theft, intrusion, or other inconvenience.
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