Facebook probe after law students file complaint

Canadan authorities have launched an investigation into Facebook after four University of Ottawa law students complained the site breaches the law by disclosing personal information to advertisers without obtaining proper consent.The students allege in a complaint lodged Friday that the popular social networking web site has committed 22 violations.

"There's definitely some significant shortcomings with Facebook's privacy settings and with their ability to protect users," said Harley Finkelstein, 24, one of the students behind the complaint. Canadian law mandates that information including address, sexual preference, birthdate and school attended cannot be disclosed without the user's consent. On Facebook, users must specifically change their settings to keep that information private.

"If a 14-year-old kid in Toronto decides to join Facebook ... and he decides to join the Toronto network, does he really know that everyone on that network — by default — will have access to his personal information?"

The students drew up the complaint after comparing the company's policies and practices to Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). Facebook refuted the claims, saying the complaint ignores key elements of the company's policy.

"We've reviewed the complaint and found it has serious factual errors — most notably its neglect of the fact that almost all Facebook data is willingly shared by users," Facebook chief privacy officer Chris Kelly said Friday in an e-mail. "The complaint also misinterprets PIPEDA in a manner that would effectively forbid voluntary online sharing of information."
Kelly said Facebook has worked with Ontario's information and privacy commissioner to create a brochure and video that will educate users about the site's privacy controls. A spokeswoman for Canada's federal privacy commissioner's office said the agency takes such complaints very seriously.

"We have no reason to believe that Facebook will not be cooperative," Anne-Marie Hayden added.
The students claim Facebook deceives users about its foray into targeted advertising. They allege the company does not get permission from the user to disclose personal information, and fails to clearly inform users about who is seeing their information. "Everyone realizes the Internet is a little bit unsecure, but because it's Facebook, it lends some credibility," said Jordan Plener, 25, another of the students involved in the complaint.

Though Facebook has recently taken some steps to overhaul its privacy system, Plener said the main concern has been to improve esthetics. Under Canadian law, the privacy commissioner has up to one year to investigate the complaint and make recommendations. The office plans to launch a Web site next week to educate youth about privacy on the Internet.

source: legalserviceindia.com

Mars lander has bared ice

That bodes well for the mission's main goal of digging for ice that can be tested for evidence of organic compounds that are the chemical building blocks of life.

Team members had said Friday that photos showing the ground beneath the lander suggested the vehicle was resting on splotches of ice. Washington University scientist Ray Arvidson said the spacecraft's thrusters may have blown away dirt covering the ice when the robot landed one week ago.

On Saturday, scientists said a more detailed image taken under the lander shows one of the craft's three legs sitting on coarse dirt and a large patch of what appears to be ice — possibly 3 feet in diameter — that apparently had been covered by a thin layer of dirt.

"We were worried that it may be 30-, 40-, 50-centimeters deep, which would be a lot of work. Now we are fairly certain that we can easily get down to the ice table," said Peter Smith, a University of Arizona scientist who is the chief project investigator.

The spacecraft is equipped with a backhoe-like robotic arm that will be used to dig into the ground and retrieve samples for testing in the lander's small laboratories. The lander was sent to a spot on Mars' northern regions in hopes of finding frozen water, but just how deep underground it would be found was unknown.

The robot arm is expected to begin its first digging operations after several more days of testing.

The final proof that the material is ice could take weeks, but close-up color images that were being taken Saturday could improve the researchers' confidence level, said Horst Uwe Keller, the scientist in charge of the camera on the robotic arm. The initial image released Saturday was in black and white.

Lucknow: An application has been filed in a court here against Shahi Imam of Delhi's Jama Masjid for hurting the religious beliefs of Muslims by "carelessly" announcing Eid-ul-Fitr on the wrong day.

Special Chief Judicial Magistrate (customs) Anupati Ram Yadav, in whose court the application was moved on Tuesday, will hear testimony of witnesses on November 22.

The applicant, naval officer Captain Baizeed Alam Khan, said the announcement of Eid caught Muslims by surprise and they could not properly celebrate the festival.

Ninth Schedule: Jethmalani bats for Parliament

Senior lawyer and MP Ram Jethmalani, while batting for the Parliament, told the court not to undermine the will of the people.

A nine-judge bench headed by the Chief Justice is examining the Parliament's power to include laws in the ninth schedule to escape judicial scrutiny.

Defending quota

Ram Jethmalani, himself appearing for the Tamil Nadu government defending the 69 per cent quota, batted for the Parliament.

He told the bench, "Do not undermine the will of the people. If two-thirds of MPs and the President of India decide to put a law in the Ninth Schedule, five, seven and nine judges sitting here, who were not democratically elected, should not declare the law invalid."

"Judicial review is not a power to be lightly exercised. Bear it in mind," he added.

In response Justice Ashok Bhan said, "You don't have to remind us what we have to do. It goes without saying."

Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal also took umbrage at Jethmalani's remarks. "We know what is the basic structure and our responsibility," he said. On Friday, Attorney General's counsel will put forward his arguments on the issue.

source: legalserviceindia.com