Zusha Ellison reports:
Lawyers pushing a Facebook privacy settlement are trying to fend off critics by suggesting in a Thursday filing (pdf) that privacy organizations are raising objections because they didn’t get a piece of the action.
Facebook settled a class action in September over its controversial Beacon advertising program that broadcast to friends what movies its users were renting online, among other personal details. Facebook agreed to stop the program and give $9.5 million to a new organization that would study online privacy.
Six privacy groups, including the Electronic Privacy Information Center, sent a letter to Northern District of California Judge Richard Seeborg raising concerns that the new organization won’t be independent. They claim that Internet users would be better served if the money was used to fund existing nonprofits already fighting the good fight.
An attorney who works at EPIC, Ginger McCall, filed an official objection Feb. 1 (pdf) as a member of the class and a Facebook user.
Read more on Law.com.
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