SPIEGEL ONLINE
- September 08, 2011
German data protection advocates often take aim at Facebook, most recently in the state of Schleswig-Holstein, which aims to ban the site's "Like" button. But tensions may be easing. On Thursday, the country's interior minister managed to coax Facebook into sharing in the creation of a voluntary privacy code. more...
SPIEGEL ONLINE
- July 21, 2011
Users of the social networking site Facebook often obsess over numbers of virtual friends and update their status on the hour. But the popularity contest is no longer limited to people's profiles. Companies are paying close attention to countries' most popular Facebook pages for brands -- which often reflect national stereotypes. By Alison Kilian more... [ Forum ]
SPIEGEL ONLINE
- July 04, 2011
Hoards of uninvited guests, extreme noise, destruction and violence: German politicians are at a loss for how to deal with the phenomenon of Facebook parties. Over the weekend some regional politicians urged a ban. But the demand is unlikely to be met. more...
SPIEGEL ONLINE
- May 26, 2011
The Internet makes us stupid. It robs us of our souls, leads to a flattening of our personalities and reduces our attention spans. This nonsense is now being spouted from an unexpected source: Bill Keller, the executive editor of the Internet-savvy New York Times. By Christian Stöcker more... [ Forum ]
SPIEGEL ONLINE
- January 22, 2011
Under pressure from the German government, the social networking site Facebook has agreed to make a major concession due to privacy concerns. The company says it will no longer automatically e-mail invitations to join the site through services like Google Mail when a person uses the controversial "Friend Finder" feature. more...
SPIEGEL ONLINE
- January 13, 2011
At the invitation of the German government, an IT professor has introduced software that allows people to set an expiration date for photos they post on Facebook or other sites. What it can't do, however, is prevent others from copying or stealing a person's personal data and posting it wherever they want on the Internet. By Christian Stöcker more... [ Forum ]
SPIEGEL ONLINE
- August 23, 2010
Good news for jobseekers who like to brag about their drinking exploits on Facebook: A new law in Germany will stop bosses from checking out potential hires on social networking sites. They will, however, still be allowed to google applicants. more...
SPIEGEL ONLINE
- August 05, 2010
Internet companies such as Facebook and Google have come in for repeated criticism in Germany, where the government has concerns about what they do with users' data. Now one state, worried about the amount of information young people reveal online, plans to teach school pupils how to keep a low profile on the web. By Jessica Donath more...
SPIEGEL ONLINE
- July 02, 2010
Programmer Daniel Suarez has written books about a future where human lives are controlled by software. Suarez' sci-fi scenario involves a malicious, murdering 'bot' network. It's fiction -- but Suarez warns that the groundwork for such a future is being laid by the likes of Facebook, Twitter and mobile phone firms. more...
SPIEGEL ONLINE
- June 23, 2010
In a SPIEGEL interview, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière, 56, discusses privacy in the age of Web 2.0, the need for people to take greater personal responsibility and his gripes with Facebook's Byzantine terms of use agreement. more...
