Last week, public outcry forced the Facebook to back down from plans to revise its terms of service that would have curtailed the rights of its 175 million users. The kerfuffle lead some industry experts to call for a code of ethics and an Ombuds for the social networking website. Fred Stutzman, who blogs about information, social networks and technology, argued that, “The ombudsman should be hired [by Facebook] for a contractually-tenured period and be given a blog on a third-party server.” (Unit Structures; michaelzimmer.org.)Eventually, the viable social structures from the actual world will be mapped onto the virtual world. In one form or another there will be a role for Ombuds and others who promote fairness, transparency and conflict resolution. ICANN has already implemented an Ombuds program and many have urged Google to do the same.
Update 2/23/09: Consumer Watchdog President Jamie Court called upon Google to create a Chief Privacy Ombudsman, independent of its corporate structure and general counsel, that reports directly to the CEO and board of directors. (PR Newswire.)
Related posts: Ombuds Not Exempt From Influence of Internet; Statement on Respectful Online Communication; ICANN Seeks Input on Ombuds; Online Bullying an Emerging Issue for Ombuds; Calls Continue for Google to Implement Ombuds; Ombuds as Role Models for Bloggers.
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