The state's Attorney General Jim Hood announces an investigation into Facebook's user privacy practices. MPB's Ashley Norwood reports.
Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood believes the social media network could have violated the Mississippi Consumer Protection Act. Facebook allegedly provided users' personal information to third parties without consumer consent or knowledge. Hood wrote a letter to the company asking them to preserve any relevant information.
He says privacy rights are becoming one of the nation's biggest crisis between companies and consumers.
"And that's why you have to have some regulation. That's why government has to filter through to see which one of these apps are legit. We trusted Facebook to do it and they have not," said Hood.
In another letter to Facebook, Hood joined a bipartisan coalition of 36 state attorneys general raising questions about the social network's protection policies. News reports indicated at least 50 million Facebook profiles may have been misused by third-party software developers.
"Uh, normally a person can't sign away your privacy rights. But there are no rules. There are no laws out here to regulate and enforce. But people expect that if it's on the internet and it's an app and it's on facebook I ought to be able to trust it," said Hood.
Hood reminds Mississippians to check their security settings on their social media accounts paying close attention to options to share data with connected apps. More tips for consumer protection are available at agjimhood.com. Ashley Norwood, MPB News.
