Do we need more legislations around social networking sites?

Absolutely, I have been very critical of social networking sites and Facebook in particular, check here, here and here.


Now, California becomes the first state in US to come up with such a legislation. The Senate passed a bill recently, that prohibits social networking websites from displaying, "the home address or telephone number of a registered user who identifies himself or herself as being under 18 years of age" to the public or to other registered users. Social networking websites that "knowingly and willfully" violate the provision can be fined up to $10,000 for each violation.


Concerns are building up at the US federal level also. Last week, four U.S. Senators wrote a letter to Facebook's CEO expressing "concern regarding recent changes to the Facebook privacy policy and the use of personal data on third party websites." The letter urged Facebook to provide opt-in mechanisms for users, as opposed to lengthy opt-out processes.


We can expect more in this regard in the coming months and it is good for privacy.