A coalition of European data protection officials warned Google on Wednesday that recent changes made to the social media site’s privacy settings are “unacceptable” and that changes need to be made in order to ensure the protection of user’s security and personal rights. PC World reports that the Article 29 Data Protection Working Party, a collection of data groups in Europe, issued an open letter to Facebook on Wednesday criticizing the recent changes to its privacy settings which expose more private information of its users to search engines and other third parties.
In the open letter, the Article 29 Data Protection Working Party said that Facebook needs “default setting in which access to the profile information about the connections of a user is limited to self-selected contacts” and that further access, “such as by search engines, should be an explicit choice of the user,” according to the regulators.”
The pressure on Facebook to revise its privacy policies is mounting. Computerworld reports that the company has called an all-staff meeting on Thursday to discuss the backlash relating to its recent privacy setting changes.