Electronic Communications Privacy Act’s Privacy Concerns

Now, you can automatically tell Facebook your friends that you watched “Arrested Development,” but is the cost worth it?

On Thursday, President Obama signed a bill which allows Netflix to offer a feature that lets users share their movie renting history via Facebook. But the bill came with downsides for privacy advocates: Congress passed on reforms to the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act that would have required the government to get a warrant to gain access to email or other cloud documents.

This begs the question, is privacy losing too many battles in the legislative space? That and more in today’s Social Media Roundup:

Privacy Versus Social Sharing

Netflix and Facebook can change their relationship status, following an amendment to a 1988 video-privacy law. http://t.co/ago4lStW  (opens in a new tab)

— CNN Business (@CNNBusiness) January 11, 2013  (opens in a new tab)

As social media has become a commodity, the concept of privacy has gotten more wishy-washy. This article by Wired  (opens in a new tab)examines the recent approval process. After the approval of Netflix’s launch of a feature in which its users can share their watching history on Facebook and the continuation of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, some of the questions that have plagued society since social networking’s conception have been rehashed: What data shouldn’t be shared? What user information should be protected by legislative means? And how can social media users control their data? This ties back to issues relevant to associations, too: While legislation was recently passed (opens in a new tab) in a handful of states barring employers from asking for recruits’ Facebook passwords, it begs the question whether the next legislative value may go the other way. What are your thoughts on this issue? (ht @CNNMoney  (opens in a new tab))

your Autobiography Is Already Written

Social Media is changing the way we remember our lives via @FastCompany  (opens in a new tab) http://t.co/mvAJ41Wb  (opens in a new tab)

— Dontae Mears (@d0ntaeme) January 11, 2013  (opens in a new tab)

You may have noticed Facebook’s “Year in Review” feature became available for members to review and publish toward the end of 2012. Well, Facebook is not the only one making usage data available to its members. Twitter also allows users to download their tweet archives. This article from Fast Company  (opens in a new tab) sheds light on the validity behind reviewing social media content. “By facilitating constant, real-time conversation, these platforms inevitably created a detailed log of the past.” What valuable information do you think lies in your association’s (or your own) social media log? (ht @RealDontae  (opens in a new tab))

What cool stuff have you read online today? Let us know in the comments.

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