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Thursday, June 12, 2014

Sen Markey on Facebook Privacy Concerns

Sen. Edward Markey today sought to rally support around his stalled “Do Not Track Kids Act” by pointing to a new Facebook policy of tracking users across the web.

Facebook announced it will begin gathering information about users, including children 13 and older, from a variety of external sites to better target advertising at them. It said users could opt out if they chose.
Privacy advocates have raised concern that the volumes of information collected on students by educational websites could be sold to or shared with commercial ventures such as Facebook to customize advertising.


Markey said Facebook’s new policy “raises a major privacy red flag” because it would let Facebook “create detailed digital dossiers” on students. He called on his colleagues in Congress to take action on his bill, which aims to strengthen privacy protections for children and teens. The bill would limit the type of information that can be collected. It would also require online companies to obtain consent before targeting advertising at children.

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