Zuckerberg family pic stirs Facebook privacy debate

WASHINGTON Even Mark Zuckerberg's family can get tripped up by Facebook's privacy settings.

A picture that Zuckerberg's sister posted on her personal Facebook profile was seen by a marketing director, who then posted the picture to Twitter and her more than 40,000 followers Wednesday.

That didn't sit well with Zuckerberg's sister, Randi, who tweeted at Callie Schweitzer that the picture was meant for friends only and that posting the private picture on Twitter was "way uncool." Schweitzer replied by saying the picture popped up on her Facebook news feed.

The picture shows four people standing around a kitchen staring at their phones with their mouths open while Mark Zuckerberg is in the background.

Randi Zuckerberg, who used to run Facebook's marketing department and now produces a reality television show, eventually said Schweitzer was able to see the picture because they had a mutual friend. Those tweets have since been taken down.

Schweitzer declined to comment when reached by The Associated Press. Randi Zuckerberg didn't reply to a message via Twitter seeking comment.

Randi Zuckerberg used the dustup to write about online sharing etiquette.

"Digital etiquette: always ask permission before posting a friend's photo publicly. It's not about privacy settings, it's about human decency," she posted on Twitter.

But Randi Zuckerberg's comments sparked sharp reactions from people who thought the issue wasn't about etiquette, but rather Facebook's often changing and often confusing privacy settings.

"The thing that bugged me about Randi Zuckerberg's response is that she used her name as a bludgeoning device. Not everyone has that. She used her position to get it taken it down," said Eva Galperin of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a privacy advocacy group in San Francisco.

While Facebook has made improvements in explaining the social network's privacy settings, Galperin said they remain confusing to most people. She added that with people using Facebook as part of their everyday lives, the consequences of fumbling privacy settings can become serious.

"Even Randi Zuckerberg can get it wrong. That's an illustration of how confusing they can be," she said.

The Menlo Park, Calif., company recently announced it is changing its privacy settings with the aim of making it easier for users to navigate them.

The fine-tuning will include several revisions that will start rolling out to Facebook's more than 1 billion users during the next few weeks and continue into early next year.

The most visible change -- and perhaps the most appreciated -- will be a new "privacy shortcuts" section that appears as a tiny lock at the top right of people's news feeds. This feature offers a drop-down box where users can get answers to common questions such as "Who can see my stuff?"

But Galperin said Wednesday's incident also illustrates a general concern about Internet privacy. Essentially, she said, if you share information or a photo with your social network, people in your network have the ability to share that with whomever else they choose.

The mobile photo-sharing service Instagram, which is owned by Facebook Inc., had to answer to backlash to privacy concerns recently when new terms of service suggested user photos could be used in advertisements. The company later said it would remove the questionable language.

[Lancer_240]

Poor poor Ms. Zuckerberg, not understanding her brother's complete lack of concern for a person's privacy.

[roynelson315]

That's one ugly family

[Scimajor]

It's simple. Do not post anything online that you don't want everyone on the planet to see. It's really that simple.

[nomorelibs]

Jeeesh! You would think it was a pic of someone naked by the way they are treating this. Big F'ing deal, a pic of your family hanging around the kitchen. You poor thing. What a joke!

[Ceej1979]

Through using Facebook, they essentially know a billion people's names, addresses, primary e-mail, phone numbers, every film they like, every shop they like, every book they like, every sports team they like........

Can you imagine how much that information is worth to companies trying to advertise/market/sell stuff?

Hundreds of billions. You know, that's the trick - Zuckerberg sells Facebook as social networking. It's actually a very large market research company

[hypnotoad72]

It is indeed all about the marketing... :(

[Ceej1979]

That's what a lot of people don't actually get about Facebook.

They take your name, address, phone number - they then monitor what you "like" on Facebook, and what pages you view - they then sell this as metadata to marketing companies, corporations, Amazon.com etc etc..........

That's how they make the money. Not through your pictures.

[Ceej1979]

You know, she's probably made a few million, in Facebook stock, by essentially taking people's private information, and selling it on...........she can't complain

[stormerF69]

Zuckerberg another Obama supporter who gave up his citizenship to keep the money he earned and avoid our tax burden.

[GOP4EVR33]

Do you have proof to back up this assertion? Making a claim like this without proof is libelous.

[AndrewinFargo]

Incorrect. Mark Zuckerberg did not give his citizenship. You are referring to Eduardo Saverin, co-founder of Facebook.

Another right winger too lazy to pay attention or fact check.

[pbaird2]

Just as you have no expectation of privacy on computers used in the workplace, you should have no expectation of privacy with text/photography posted electronically. Anything you release electronically has the ability to be intercepted by others. If you would not want your mother or your significant other seeing something, do not post it to the internet. Even low-tech mail falls into the wrong hands. If you want privacy, keep it to yourself.

[FloridaFemale]

"Privacy Debate"? i love how people want their 15 mins. of fame!! if you do not want your photos to be shared by your friends on your FaceBook, simple "DO NOT POST THEM!!" has nothing to do with Privacy, this is what happens when you post stuff on the internet!! DUH!! lol Just Sayin' :o)~