Facebook tracking now under federal investigation

Facebook tracking has become a perennial privacy issue, but this time, the Federal Trade Commission is involved. Last week, the FTC offered the social-network giant a settlement over a complaint that it had harmed users by changing privacy settings without warning. Under the settlement, Facebook would have to receive explicit permission from users before it shares any data collected under new terms – in essence, a repudiation of its hitherto standard of "opt-out" privacy changes. Now, users will need to "opt-in" to new changes.