Reading the fine print on social media user agreements isn’t something on which most people spend a lot of time.
As such, it can be reasonably inferred that not many people take a deep read into the various online privacy sections of each social media site.
A U.S. judge made news this week when he echoed that sentiment, as a decision was made to dismiss a nationwide case against Facebook’s possibly violating user privacy. Plaintiffs in the case claimed that Facebook tracked internet activity after one logged out of the social media site.
In the late Friday decision, U.S. District Judge Edward Davila of San Jose, California, said there was failure to demonstrate an expectation of privacy or any economic loss occurred.
While the plaintiffs claimed California’s online privacy and wiretapping laws were violated by Facebook by keeping track of browser cookies, the judge noted users were not taking cybersecurity steps to keep their browsing histories set to private.
In Judge Davila’s dissent, he wrote, “The fact that a user’s web browser automatically sends the same information to both parties does not establish that one party intercepted the user’s communication with the other.”
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In today’s fast-paced digital arena, it may be safe to assume that anything clicked online will be subject to third-party knowledge. As such, anyone looking to keep their browsing history private should adjust their internet cybersecurity settings.
