FTC complaint accuses Facebook of revealing sensitive health data in groups

A complaint filed with the Federal Trade Commission is accusing Facebook of failing to protect sensitive health data in its groups. The complaint, filed with the agency in Jan and released publicly Feb 18, argues that the company improperly disclosed information on members of closed groups. The issue first came into the public eye in July, when members of a group for women with a gene mutation called BRCA discovered sensitive information, like names and email addresses of members, could be downloaded in bulk, either manually or through a Chrome extension.  The complaint, which was filed by a security researcher and BRCA advocates, among others, argues that Facebook has failed to make clear what personal information users might be giving up when they join a group. While the company might have also made changes to the ability to view personal information, the complaint argues that it is still too easy for a member to harvest information on others in a group.