US Congress Members would like to meet Facebook representatives over allegations that it misled users who discussed their medical conditions in “closed” groups, reports Gizmodo. These users believed that their discussions were private and anonymous. However, Facebook, told the users that they should have understood that it is “not an anonymous platform." In an open letter to Facebook, members of the Congress questioned Facebook's privacy practices, especially those regarding closed groups for medical issues. Patients' complaint to the FTC The letter came after a groups of patients accused Facebook of misleading them about their privacy. The group alleged that Facebook asked users to join online medical support groups, and led them to believe the groups are private. Patients claimed that the personal information of the users in the closed groups may have been made available for companies and individuals who shouldn’t have access to it The complaint claimed that Facebook failed to disclose that the group members’ data could be mined for ad targeting, and shared with third parties Elaborates that the users shared information about substance abuse, parenting transgender children, HIV status, sexual assault history According to The Hill, health experts from the group who filed the complaint, used an app to download the names of 10,000 people who were had tested positive for the BCRA gene which causes breast cancer. They did so to support their allegations against Facebook. Congress members' letter to Facebook The US members of Congress' open letter to Facebook states: Facebook lacks transparency about how it gathers…
