Guest Post at TechFlash: Privacy Policies and Acquisitions
I have a guest post at TechFlash, Seattle's technology news source (an awesome project of former Seattle PI technology reporters). My basic point is that privacy policies tell consumers little about what happens when there is an acquisition, and this is important, particularly when it comes to acquisitions that involve large amounts of user data:
BTW: the first commenter checks me on something. It's tough to say that Facebook's acquisition of FriendFeed was about the user base. FriendFeed's user base is truly a drop in the Facebook bucket. The larger point is that Facebook gained control over user information which FriendFeed users may not have given to Facebook in the first place.
Did Facebook’s acquisition of FriendFeed comport with FriendFeed’sprivacy policy? In arguing this point, lawyers may debate the nuancesof the policy, but consumers are largely left in the dark.Thanks to the folks at TechFlash for letting me post on this . . . I was pretty excited about it.
BTW: the first commenter checks me on something. It's tough to say that Facebook's acquisition of FriendFeed was about the user base. FriendFeed's user base is truly a drop in the Facebook bucket. The larger point is that Facebook gained control over user information which FriendFeed users may not have given to Facebook in the first place.
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