Facebook's Beacon Privacy Violation Makes it 9M Richer
Facebook offered to settle all lawsuits that resulted from its failed Beacon application, which violated users' privacy. The Beacon application without user prior agreement reported online purchases to social contacts of users, which broke federal privacy laws and resulted in several lawsuits by unhappy customers. Facebook offered to settle one case in a bold move to dismiss all other cases around the country for 9M. About 6 million would be left after attorney fees to fund a foundation. The members of the 3 person foundation board were named in the settlement agreement. The board was established with 2 people, which included a Facebook executive. They had to agree on the naming of a third person who would help decide how to spend the 6M set aside for online privacy research.
Clever: Facebook Funds A Privacy Watchdog Group, Nicholas Carlson, Business Insider, Silicon Alley Insider, March 18, 2010
