News & Commentary

Today, Facebook agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charges that it deceived customers by failing to uphold privacy promises. The FTC announced today that the social networking site "deceived consumers by telling them they could keep their information on Facebook private, and then repeatedly allowing it to be shared and made public. The proposed settlement requires Facebook to take several steps to make sure it lives up to its promises in the future, including giving consumers clear and prominent notice and obtaining consumers' express consent before their information is shared beyond the privacy settings they have established."

Earlier today the FTC announced a proposed settlement with Facebook, addressing its assertion that Facebook deceived users by failing to uphold its privacy promises. As we said elsewhere, the proposed settlement has one major step forward: it prohibits the company from "begging forgiveness instead of asking permission" by changing its privacy settings to make data more public or share it with more people. But it doesn't cure all of the outstanding issues [pdf] with Facebook privacy.

We've heard it all over the country, that Occupy encampments must come down because of "health and safety concerns."

Catherine CrumpACLU National Office

By Sandra FultonACLU Washington Legislative Office

The Oakland Police Department oversaw the use of excessive force against Occupy Oakland demonstrators, and now the department is refusing to hand over information about what really happened.

The day after an enormous peaceful demonstration, and the first general strike this country has seen since the 1940s, some of the focus has turned to bonfires and tear gas. But as we continue looking into what happened during late-night clashes between demonstrators and the police, let's not forget the voices of the thousands upon thousands of people who peacefully came together and marched through the streets of Oakland. That's the First Amendment in action.

In response to the Oakland Police Department’s (OPD) transformation last week of downtown Oakland into this battle zone-like scene, the ACLU of Northern California and the National Lawyers’ Guild demanded that OPD conduct a full and independent investigation of the recent enforcement actions on Occupy Oakland.

Picture this. In response to a peaceful anti-war protest, the Oakland Police Department uses large wooden bullets, sting ball grenades and shot-filled bean bags, as a result of which at least 58 protesters are injured. That was 2003, and unfortunately sounds eerily similar to reports of OPD's response to an Occupy Oakland demonstration yesterday evening, in which bean bags or other projectiles appear to have been fired directly into crowds and multiple rounds of tear gas were used.