Facebook is a popular topic of discussion here at the ReputationDefender Blog, and why not? With more than 250 million users worldwide, the social networking website has become a focal point of our collective culture. Of course, with such unprecedented growth, Facebook was bound to run into some detractors, namely privacy advocates like Canadian Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart.

In a recent government report, Stoddart called on Facebook to make substantial improvements to its current system or run the risk of facing legal action. Quoting from the news release,

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner will review after 30 days the actions Facebook takes to comply with the recommendations. The Commissioner is empowered to go to Federal Court to seek to have her recommendations enforced.

Stoddart’s recommendations include the request that Facebook change its policy of keeping user information indefinitely, implement stronger safeguards with regard to third-party apps and developers, and offer more accessible and transparent information about its privacy policies.

For their part, Facebook is playing it cool. In a statement addressing the Privacy Commssioner’s report, Facebook spokesman Barry Schnitt said

“We are confident that we will come to some sort of resolution…[and] We believe right now that our privacy protections are adequate and that it’s far from a foregone conclusion that a court would uphold these findings.”

Despite such self-assurances, there is substantial reason for Facebook to take the charges in this report seriously. As the site grows and grows and grows, the opportunity for a major privacy breach becomes more and more severe. Furthermore, as the site continues to expand across the world, Facebook will have to deal with differing privacy laws and public sentiment about social networking.

Hitting the 250 million user mark in only 5 years is an impressive achievement, but the future of Facebook’s success lies in how Facebook addresses its numerous privacy and safety issues over the coming months. Remember, MySpace was all the rage just a couple of years ago. Up until MSNBC’s To Catch a Predator exposed the world to the kinds of dangers lurking on the site. Now, MySpace is trying to reestablish its identity to keep up with not only Facebook, but hard charging social networking sites like Twitter. Will Facebook face a similar fate in five years?

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