Canada heads into battle with Facebook for a second time

Matt Gurney remembers the dawn of Facebook, when every user needed a valid university or college email address to sign up.

“It was a 20-something zone,” said Gurney, assistant comment editor for the National Post, in a phone interview on Tuesday.

“Every picture on there was of drunken parties and hook-ups,” he added. “But when they opened it up so that anyone could join, we cleaned up our profiles fast.”

Profile clean-up is something Facebook users have found themselves having to do since the social networking giant made some revisions to its default privacy settings in December. Users have complained that the new settings made their previously protected information visible and searchable.

The complaints have led Canada’s privacy commissioner Jennifer Stoddart to launch a second probe into Facebook’s privacy policies. Stoddart’s 2009 investigation resulted in the website changing some of its settings.

Gurney, still a Facebook user today, doesn’t think Facebook is solely to blame for what some users feel is an invasion of their privacy. He says users are accountable for what they choose to post online and for what privacy settings they implement.

“I’m a big believer in personal responsibility,” said Gurney. “If [what you post] comes back to bite you in the ass, that’s not Facebook’s fault.”

Michael Geist, a University of Ottawa professor and Toronto Star columnist, agrees that users have responsibilities.

“I don't think it infringes on privacy [because] users have choices,” said Geist via email. “But I do think it raises privacy concerns given that many users don't take advantage of the choices.”

So who will be victorious in the rematch of Stoddart and Facebook?

"Between the Canadian government and Facebook, Facebook will win," said Gurney. "Facebook has three times as many members as any political party has voters."