Schumer wants info sharing guidelines for social networking sites

Sen Chuck Schumer (D-NY) wrote the Federal Trade Commission Sunday asking the agency to provide guidelines to social networking sites on user's private information. He wants to ensure that private information submitted to the websites is not given away improperly to third parties. The letter comes amid reports that Facebook has begun to provide user's information to third-party sites that users used to be able to prevent from being shared. "Hundreds of millions of people use social networking sites like Facebook, Myspace and Twitter every day," Sen Schumer said. "These sites have helped reconnect old friends, allow families from far away to stay in touch, and created new friendships; overall they provide a great new way to communicate. As these sites become more and more popular, however, it's vitally important that safeguards are in place that provide users with control over their personal information to ensure they don't receive unwanted solicitations."