If you are one of the many people who are concerned with privacy invasion, and if you avoid Big Brother as much as you possibly can, you can refuse to subscribe to social media sites to avoid having your personal information displayed on sites like Facebook for all the world to see. Right? Maybe not...
In Ireland, a major investigation has been launched by the Irish Data Protection Commission (“IDPC”) to investigate claims of “shadow profiles” being created on Facebook for people who have never subscribed to the website. The IDPC claims that Facebook Ireland has gathered extensive data to create these “shadow profiles,” and the information gathered includes “names, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, work information, and perhaps even more sensitive information such as sexual orientation, political affiliations, and religious beliefs.”
The IDPC became involved when Max Schrems, a 24-year-old Austrian law student, reported that Facebook Ireland had retained information that should have been deleted from his account. (Facebook Ireland handles all Facebook users outside of the United States.) In The Guardian, Schrems expressed concern that information held by Facebook could hurt his chances once he was trying to establish a legal career. Furthermore, his complaint alleges that through different devices such as “‘synchronizing’ mobile phones, importing personal data from e-mail providers, importing personal information from instant messaging services, sending invitations to friends, or saving search queries when users search for other people on facebook.com,” Facebook Ireland is creating “shadow profiles” for non-Facebook-users without providing notice to them or receiving consent from them.
"[Schrem's] complaint alleges that ... Facebook ... is creating “shadow profiles” for non-Facebook-users without providing notice to them or receiving consent from them."
Facebook denies the allegations. Andrew Noyes, a Facebook spokesman stated, “The assertion that Facebook is doing some sort of nefarious profiling is simply wrong.” He conceded that once a Facebook user invites non-users to join, Facebook “[keeps] the invitee’s email address and name to let you know when they join the service.” Noyes added that “this practice is common amongst almost all services that involve invitations -- from document sharing to event planning.”
Because “privacy laws are much more stringent” in Europe, there is a possibility that Facebook could be fined of up to $137,000 (U.S. dollars). While the United States privacy laws may be more lenient, currently “privacy rights litigation is proceeding in Mississippi, Louisiana, Kansas and Kentucky” against Facebook. Presently, the California-based Facebook Inc. is being investigated by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, with Congress also expressing an interest to inquire.
And, why Facebook Ireland? According to CNet.com, Facebook Ireland services all Facebook users who live outside of the United States or Canada. For Facebook users in the United States and Canada, they “are contracted with Facebook Inc., headquartered in California.”
If you are a Facebook user and would like to know what information Facebook has stored in regards to your personal account, click here. Schrems is actively encouraging others to request this information and has (ironically enough) created a Facebook page to get this message out to others. However, Schrems warns, that “this tool only offers access to a fraction of the data Facebook holds.”
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