Some companies are supposedly too big to fail. Then there are those that appear to be too big to care. In the latter category, put Facebook.
As ordinary people and government officials become increasingly concerned about the way the social-media giant uses the data it collects and its failure to protect the privacy of users, the company seems content to ignore many of the concerns.
This week, the federal and B.C. information and privacy commissioners held a news conference to outline their frustration with trying to get Facebook to pay attention. Federal commissioner Daniel Therrien is so peeved he is shutting down his office’s Facebook account.
The two have been talking to the company for months to try to get it to stop breaching Canadian privacy requirements, to no avail.
Therrien and B.C.’s Michael McEvoy are pushing back, however. They are taking the company to Federal Court in hopes a judge will rule that Facebook must comply with their recommendations.
Facebook has operated with impunity, using data about people in ways that many users don’t realize. Our privacy commissioners need the power to enforce their decisions, so massive companies will stop ignoring them — and the rest of us.
