Facebook makes privacy pledge in FTC settlement

Associated Press *Original Link

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Government regulators are sharing some alarming information about Facebook: They believe the online social network has often misled its more than 800 million users about the sanctity of their personal information.

The unflattering portrait of Facebook's privacy practices emerged Tuesday in a Federal Trade Commission complaint alleging that Facebook exposed details about users' lives without getting legally required consent. In some cases, the FTC charged, Facebook allowed potentially sensitive details to be passed along to advertisers and software developers prowling for customers.

To avoid further legal wrangling, Facebook agreed to submit to government audits of its privacy practices every other year for the next two decades. The company committed to getting explicit approval from its users — a process known as "opting in" — before changing their privacy controls.

The FTC's truce with Facebook, along with previous settlements with Google and Twitter, is helping to establish more ground rules for online privacy expectations even as Internet companies regularly vacuum up insights about their audiences in an effort to sell more advertising.

Although Facebook didn't acknowledge any wrongdoing in the legal papers it signed with the FTC, Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg was more contrite in a blog post Tuesday.

"I'm the first to admit that we've made a bunch of mistakes," Zuckerberg wrote. "In particular, I think that a small number of high-profile mistakes ... have often overshadowed much of the good work we've done."

Facebook has overcome its missteps in the past to emerge as the world's largest social network and one of the Internet's most influential companies since Zuckerberg created the website in his Harvard University dorm room in 2004.

No website has been as successful as Facebook at getting people to voluntarily share intimate details about themselves. Zuckerberg has emerged as the Internet's chief evangelist for sharing, partly because he believes it can help make the world a better place by making it easier for people to stay connected with the things and people that they care about.

Facebook also is trying to make money by mining the personal information that it collects to help customize ads and aim the messages at people most likely to buy the products and services being promoted.

That strategy has been working well as Facebook prepares to sell its stock in an initial public offering that's expected next year.

The company's revenue this year is expected to approach $4.3 billion, according to research firm eMarketer, up from $777 million in 2009. The rapid growth is expected to make Facebook the biggest Internet IPO in history, topping Google's stock market debut in 2004.

The FTC's 19-page complaint casts a glaring spotlight on how Facebook has approached its users' rights to privacy at a time that it is facing tougher competition from Internet search leader Google Inc., which has attracted more than 40 million users to a social service called Plus just five months after its debut.

Google tried to lure people away from Facebook with a system that made it easier to guard their personal information. Facebook has responded by introducing more granular privacy settings.

The FTC cracked down on Google eight months ago for alleged privacy abuses that occurred last year when the company attempted to plant a social network called Buzz within its widely used Gmail service. Like Facebook, Google agreed to improve its privacy practices and submit to external audits for the next 20 years.

Twitter, the online short-messaging service, also struck a settlement with the FTC in June 2010 to resolve charges that it didn't do enough to protect users' accounts from computer hackers.

Much of the FTC's complaint against Facebook centers on a series of changes that the company made to its privacy controls in late 2009. The revisions automatically shared information and pictures about Facebook users, even if they previously programmed their privacy settings to shield the content. Among other things, people's profile pictures, lists of online friends and political views were suddenly available for the world to see, the FTC alleged.

The complaint also charges that Facebook shared its users' personal information with third-party advertisers from September 2008 through May 2010 despite several public assurances from company officials that it wasn't passing the data along for marketing purposes.

Facebook believes that happened only in limited instances, generally when users clicked on ads that appeared on their personal profile pages. Most of Facebook's users click on ads when they are on their "Wall" — a section that highlights their friends' posts — or while visiting someone else's profile page.

The FTC also alleged that Facebook displayed personal photos even after users deleted them from their accounts.

Facebook's agreement with the FTC requires the company to obey privacy laws or face fines of $16,000 per day for each violation.

"Facebook's innovation does not have to come at the expense of consumer privacy," FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz. "The FTC action will ensure it will not."

The FTC's commissioners unanimously approved the agreement with Facebook. The FTC is accepting public comments through Dec. 30 before deciding whether to finalize the settlement.

Facebook's stepped-up commitment to privacy wasn't enough to satisfy Jeff Chester, executive director for the Center for Digital Democracy, one of the privacy watchdog groups that prodded the FTC investigation. In a statement, Chester called on Zuckerberg and Facebook's board of directors to resign so that the company could hire more trustworthy replacements.

"They misled consumers and should pay a price beyond a 20-year agreement to conduct their business practices in a more above-board fashion," Chester said.

Facebook sought to downplay the gravity of the FTC's allegations, maintaining that it had already addressed most of the privacy complaints. Zuckerberg said the website has added more than 20 new privacy features in the past 18 months.

To underscore its commitment, Facebook has created two new executive positions — Michael Richter as chief privacy officer of products and Erin Egan as chief privacy officer of policy.

"This means we're making a clear and formal long-term commitment to do the things we've always tried to do and planned to keep doing — giving you tools to control who can see your information and then making sure only those people you intend can see it," Zuckerberg wrote in his blog post.

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AP Technology Writer Barbara Ortutay in New York contributed to this story.

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Online:

The FTC's complaint: http://1.usa.gov/uUrr4z

Mark Zuckerberg's blog post: http://on.fb.me/vkTdhV

Michael Jackson's doctor sentenced to 4 years

Associated Press *Original Link




LOS ANGELES (AP) — The doctor convicted in the overdose death of Michael Jackson was sentenced to the maximum four years behind bars Tuesday by a judge who denounced him as a reckless physician whose actions were a "disgrace to the medical profession."

Dr. Conrad Murray sat stoically with his hands crossed as Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor repeatedly chastised him for what he called a "horrific violation of trust" while caring for Jackson.
However, Pastor conceded his sentence was constrained by a recent change in California law that requires Murray to serve his sentence in county jail rather than state prison.
In addition, the time that Murray will serve in the overcrowded jail also is out of the judge's hands. That decision will be made by the Sheriff's Department, and with good behavior, Murray could serve half of the four years.

"If the sheriff is consistent, Dr. Murray's sentence in terms of time incarcerated will be very short," District Attorney Steve Cooley said after the sentencing.
The judge was relentless in his bashing of Murray, saying he lied repeatedly and had not shown remorse for his actions in the treatment of Jackson. Pastor also said Murray's heavy use of the powerful anesthetic propofol to help Jackson battle insomnia violated his sworn obligation.
"It should be made very clear that experimental medicine is not going to be tolerated, and Mr. Jackson was an experiment," Pastor said. "Dr. Murray was intrigued by the prospect and he engaged in this money for medicine madness that is simply not going to be tolerated by me."
Pastor also said Murray "has absolutely no sense of remorse, absolutely no sense of fault, and is and remains dangerous" to the community.
The judge said.one of the most disturbing aspects of Murray's case was a slurred recording of Jackson recovered from the doctor's cell phone.
"That tape recording was Dr. Murray's insurance policy," Pastor said. "It was designed to record his patient surreptitiously at that patient's most vulnerable point."
Defense attorney J. Michael Flanagan said after the sentencing that he was surprised the judge focused on the recording. The lawyer also contended that nothing said during the hearing would have changed the judge's mind about the sentence.
Michael Jackson's family told Pastor in a statement read earlier that they were not seeking revenge but wanted Murray to receive a stiff sentence that served as a warning to opportunistic doctors.
It included elements from Jackson's parents, siblings and his three children.
"As his brothers and sisters, we will never be able to hold, laugh or perform again with our brother Michael," the statement said. "And as his children, we will grow up without a father, our best friend, our playmate and our dad."
The family told The Associated Press after the sentencing that they were pleased with the results.
"We're going to be a family. We're going to move forward. We're going to tour, play the music and miss him," brother Jermaine Jackson said.
Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter after a six-week trial that presented the most detailed account yet of Jackson's final hours but left many questions about Murray's treatment of the superstar with propofol.
Before sentencing, lead defense attorney Ed Chernoff highlighted the accomplishments of Murray.
"I do wonder though to what extent the court considers the entirety of a man's book of life, as opposed to one chapter," he told the judge.
Chernoff also attacked Michael Jackson, as he and his team frequently did during the doctor's trial.
"Michael Jackson was a drug seeker," Chernoff said.
Murray did not directly address the court. After sentencing, he mouthed the words "I love you" to his mother and girlfriend in the courtroom.
Jackson's death in June 2009 stunned the world, as did the ensuing investigation that led to Murray being charged in February 2010.
Murray told detectives he had been giving the singer nightly doses of propofol to help him sleep as he prepared for a series of comeback concerts. Propofol is supposed to be used in hospital settings and has never been approved for sleep treatments, yet Murray acknowledged giving it to Jackson then leaving the room on the day the singer died.
Murray declined to testify during his trial but did opt to participate in a documentary in which he said he didn't consider himself guilty of any crime and blamed Jackson for entrapping him into administering the propofol doses. His attorneys contended throughout the case that Jackson must have given himself the fatal dose when Murray left the singer's bedside.
In their sentencing memorandum, prosecutors cited Murray's statements to advocate for the maximum term. They also want him to pay restitution to the singer's three children — Prince, Paris and Blanket.
The exact amount Murray has to pay will be determined at a hearing in January.
"Anything over a couple of dollars, he's not going to be able to pay anyway," Flanagan said.
Murray was deeply in debt when he agreed to serve as Jackson's personal physician for $150,000 a month, and the singer died before Murray received any money.
Prosecutors said the relationship of Jackson and Murray was corrupted by greed. Murray left his practices to serve as Jackson's doctor and look out for his well-being, but instead acted as an employee catering to the singer's desire to receive propofol to put him to sleep, prosecutors said.
Murray's attorneys relied largely on 34 letters from relatives, friends and former patients to portray Murray in a softer light and win a lighter sentence. The letters and defense filings described Murray's compassion as a doctor, including accepting lower payments from his mostly poor patients.
"There is no question that the death of his patient, Mr. Jackson, was unintentional and an enormous tragedy for everyone affected," defense attorneys wrote in their sentencing memo.

O.F.W. Summit: Changing Mindsets

MANILA, Philippines — I've  been writing about overseas Filipino workers (OFW) with a common message: the government should do more to help them and protect their interests.

In my view, however, promoting the interests of OFWs cannot be the sole responsibility and function of the government. So this time I want to focus on what the private sector can do for the benefit of our modern heroes.

On November 24, Villar Foundation and GoNegosyo launched the 1st OFW & Family Summit with the theme “Kabuhayan Para sa Kinabukasan.”

The summit, which will be a yearly event, is essentially a partnership between Villar Foundation and GoNegosyo, both advocates of entrepreneurship, and the OFWs and their families.

The summit was conceptualized for OFWs and their families. So we made sure that every aspect of the event — from the program to the exhibitors — was focused on them. We wanted the summit to be really worthwhile, educational, and inspirational for all of them.

I’m glad that the first summit was well attended, and I hope that it will be the start of a movement to change the lives of OFWs and their families for the better and secure for them a stable and prosperous future.

Everybody recognizes the huge contribution of overseas Filipino workers to our economy. Their remittances, which exceeded $18 billion last year, fuel consumption and drive economic growth amid the slowdown in exports and the decline in other sectors like agriculture.

This year, the economy will still post positive growth, despite the financial crisis in Europe and the continuing weakness of the United States economy, because remittances are still expected to grow at least to an estimated $20 billion.

So the prospects remain bright for our country, but, alas, not so bright for many of our OFWs. Despite their huge role in driving economic growth, the individual OFWs and their families still face an uncertain future.

How many times have we heard of OFWs who, after working for so many years abroad, came back to face the same impoverished conditions that they left because their savings were lost either to unscrupulous persons or because of lack of knowledge and skills to use their hard-earned money for income-generating activities?

Several studies have found out that the money sent home by OFWs is usually spent on consumer products like appliances, electronic gadgets, and the like. The mentality is really to spend the money instead of making it “grow.”

Changing this mentality is something that I have been pushing for so long. So, I am glad that we now have a partnership with other advocates and with the OFW community that will work for one common goal: teach OFWs and their families ways to use their money wisely, that is, to generate a constant stream of income.

I would like to acknowledge the experts who participated in the summit, namely, Toots Ople of the Blas F. Ople Policy Center,  Leonardo Dayao Sr. of Puregold, Dean Pax Lapid of Entrepreneur School of Asia, Victoria Villa of Natasha, Dr. Rosalinda Hortaleza of Hortaleza, and Armanda Bartolome of GMB Franchise Developers.

We also heard success stories from OFWs-turned-entrepreneurs. Prudencio Garcia, who used to work in Saudi Arabia, returned home to help in the family business, Mekeni, which is now one of the leading meat companies. Myrna Padilla, a former domestic helper, is now the owner of a BPO company.

Although the summit is a private initiative, the government also has a stake in ensuring its success. For instance, remittances will contribute more to economic growth if these are channeled to entrepreneurial activities, which generate employment and stimulate other business activities.

This, in turn, will encourage more people to go into business here rather than seek employment abroad, where they risk even their lives.

Developing a nation of entrepreneurs will also take us to our ultimate and elusive goal: end poverty.

How can the government help in our effort? By implementing reforms that will improve the investment climate, promoting good governance, improving infrastructure, and establishing peace and order.

In the end, changing the OFWs’ mindset is a self-help effort. Peter Drucker, father of modern management, said:  “The best way to predict the future is to create it.”

The Villar Foundation and GoNegosyo are committed to helping OFWs establish and run their own businesses, and the government may also provide some help. Still, it is the OFWs’ own determination that will secure for them and their families a bright future.