But the ACLU and MoveOn.org getting involved? Really? These are high-powered organizations with lawyers and connections and a lot of funding. How about if they stick to matters where either the government is doing something it oughtn't or where someone is violating someone's civil rights?
Again, while I don't necessarily like Facebook's policies, it's a private website in which I choose to participate, and I agree to their policies by partaking in the site. There's no civil rights violation occurring when I willingly sign up to participate in a private web community and then willingly allow various people and applications access to the profile that I willingly created. Sure, they could stand to be a bit more upfront in how information can be accessed, but if I don't like it, I'm free to quit using it and/or to contact the administrators and express my opinions.
I thought the ACLU's whole thing was protecting the constitutionality of free expression, even if the particular expression is distasteful. I don't particularly like that most user agreements consist of 2893748327483 pages of fine print with big lawyer words that I don't want to take the time to look up, but it's perfectly legal and constitutional for a private organization to do such a thing, and it's my tough luck if I agree to a policy without taking the time to understand it (provided it's not coming from a type of organization that does have the obligation to ensure that informed consent). Is it ethical or moral to con people into agreeing to something slightly sketchy? Probably not, but it's certainly not illegal. Participating in Facebook is hardly something we have an unalienable human right to access.
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