UK wants simplified data management policies for consumers.
- Frederik Herholdt
- Mar 25, 2018
- 2 min read
The U.K. government will direct major social media companies, and other tech companies to simplify their data management policies for consumers.
This comes after disclosures about recent breaches. The government will be directing Facebook Inc., Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Twitter Inc. and other tech companies to make data management policies comprehensive to consumers.
Matt Hancock, the U.K. digital, culture and media secretary, told the Sunday Times that these "digital powerhouses" are failing to provide users with clear and concise terms and conditions for how personal data is used. Matt's goal is to get the information onto one page.
Word count on some of these companies' policies counted up to a staggering 11,000 words. Facebook’s service agreement has more than 3,700 words, while Twitter comes in at 11,000 words, according to the Sunday Times. Executives from Facebook, Google and Twitter has been summoned by government to join a meeting in April in order to properly discuss data management practices.
“People are bewildered by pages of unwieldy terms and conditions,” Hancock told the Sunday Times “I want these boiled right down so people can see in one glance what they’re signing up to. I want the big platforms to answer questions and demonstrate they are willing to change.”
Revelations that Cambridge Analytica, based in London, used personal data from more than 50-million Facebook accounts in its work for the campaign of President Donald Trump, has turned up the heat on the social media giant.
Hancock’s planned meeting coincides with the U.K. Parliament’s consideration of a data protection law. This would enable the government to impose heavy fines on tech companies who mishandle their customers data. Members of the U.S. Congress are calling upon Facebook Chief Executive Officer, Mark Zuckerberg, to testify on the company’s practices.
Facebook’s shares fell about 14 percent since the disclosures a week ago. Zuckerberg vowed on Sunday to protect consumers' personal information in full-page advertisements, which were published in many British newspapers. “I promise to do better for you,” Zuckerberg pledged in the ad carried on the back pages of the newspapers.
The U.K. privacy watchdog completed a seven-hour search of Cambridge Analytica’s London offices, early Saturday, This was part of a larger investigation into the use of personal data and analytics by political campaigns, social media companies and other businesses. “We will now need to assess and consider the evidence before deciding the next steps and coming to any conclusions,” according to a statement.
Posted 25 March 2018 | Frederik Herholdt
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