A group set up to advise the European Union says social networking sites may need closer control by privacy regulators on the continent. It warns that third-party developers who produce applications for the site need particular scrutiny.

The call comes in an opinion document produced by the EU’s Data Protection Working Party, known colloquially as Article 29. The group is made up of a senior data regulation official from each of the countries which are members of the EU. Its recommendations aren’t binding, but can be influential on European Union policy.

One of the key points in the document is that the group believes social networking sites should be classed as data controllers rather than data processors. That would put them under much greater responsibility for complying with rules on privacy and security of data. The group also argues that even though many major social networking sites are based in the U.S., they still come under European rules when it comes to their users on the continent.

Some of the rules which would thus apply to the likes of Facebook and MySpace would be that default settings should restrict sharing of personal information to people the users specifically sets as friends. Opening up personal details to a wider group, or to any user, would have to be an option the user actively chooses.

Firms would also have to make sure that any internal search facilities do not bring up any profiles which are set to “private”, including those which still have the default setting. Sites would also need clearly displayed privacy policies and provide link on the front page for complaining about privacy issues.

The group also argues that anyone using the site for anything but personal use should have to follow privacy guidelines such as clearly identifying themselves and making clear how they’ll use any data they gather through the site. This requirement would affect anyone posting on behalf of an organization (including charities), plus individuals using the site for business or political means.

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Entry was posted on Wednesday, June 24th, 2009 at 4:26 pm under Legal, Social Media, Web2.0.

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