A California state senator is planning to introduce a law that would force social networking sites such as Facebook to change their privacy and security policies.

The bill in question, the Social Networking Privacy Act (SB 242), would demand major concessions, which Facebook and other social media sites want to avoid.

“Facebook has been very passive about security. They put the onus on the user to figure the security out on their own,” said Zeus Kerravala, an analyst at Yankee Group, Computer World reports. “Now it would automatically be more secure.”

It’s no surprise that Facebook opposes the bill and the specific measures that it contains, but their opposition probably stems just as much from the precedent that government oversight would set for an industry used to being free from government interference.

The company has reportedly conveyed their concerns to California Senate Majority Leader Ellen Corbett, who is behind the bill.

According to Facebook spokesperson Andrew Noyes, representatives from the company have already had a number of discussions with Ellen Corbett on the issue. Also, the senator was seen visiting the company’s Palo Atlo office where she is believed to have met COO Sheryl Sandberg.

By Michael Ide, IT Pro Portal
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