German group gives Facebook privacy deadline

(AP) — A German data protection official called Wednesday for social networking site Facebook to delete biometric profiles of people stored without their explicit consent, saying they breach European privacy rules.

(AP) -- A German data protection authority is "unliking" Facebook's "Like" button.

Facebook has until November 7 to bring its facial recognition software into conformity with privacy laws in Germany and the European Union or face legal action, a government lawyer told AFP Friday.

Germany's consumer protection minister has warned her fellow cabinet members against using Facebook to promote their work citing data security concerns, in an internal letter obtained by Der Spiegel.

(AP) -- A German minister has sharply criticized Facebook's handling of personal data and is calling on the social network to upgrade its privacy settings.

(AP) -- Facebook said Monday it has reached a deal with German data protection officials in a dispute over unsolicited invitations sent to non-members of the social networking site through its "Friend Finder" feature.

Internet mogul Kim Dotcom said Thursday he was considering taking legal action against tech giants such as Twitter, Google and Facebook for infringing copyright on a security measure he invented.

Twitter said Wednesday it was stepping up security measures for the popular messaging service following a series of high-profile breaches by hackers hitting media organizations and others.

Facebook on Wednesday became a full member of the Global Network Initiative, a non-governmental organization promoting Internet freedom and privacy rights.

A full 90% of all the data in the world has been generated over the last two years. The internet companies are awash with data that can be grouped and utilised. Is this a good thing?

Australian children are accessing social media websites at an increasingly younger age, a new survey suggests, with one in five "tweens" admitting they have chatted to someone online they do not know.

American teenagers are sharing more information about themselves on social media sites, but taking steps to protect their privacy online, a study showed Tuesday.