House OKs Bill to Let You Share Netflix Activity on Facebook

The House on Tuesday approved an update to an antiquated bill that could allow for the sharing of your Netflix activity on sites like Facebook.

The House yesterday approved by voice vote H.R. 6671, which amends the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) to let video providers facilitate sharing on social networks.

"Today's technology and the ever-changing consumer marketplace demand an update to the antiquated VPPA," Rep. Bob Goodlatte, the bill's sponsor, said in a statement. "Over the past two decades, video distribution and the way consumers view video content has changed dramatically. Social media users, especially young people, do not understand why they cannot share information about their favorite movies or TV shows in the same way that they can music or books."

The VPPA limits how much people can share about their video rental and viewing history. So, U.S. users can share with Facebook the music they are listening to on Spotify, but cannot link a Netflix account to Facebook due to the law's restrictions.

Despite the VPPA, Hulu last year rolled out an app that allowed users to share their video-watching activity on Facebook. That prompted a class-action suit from Hulu users, who accused the company of violating the VPPA. Hulu argued that it was not subject to the VPPA because it only disclosed personal information in its "ordinary course of . . . business." But a California district court in August clarified that the VPPA does indeed apply to online video services offered by companies like Hulu, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

The VPPA was enacted after Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork's video rental records were published in a newspaper back in 1987. In an odd coincidence, Bork's family announced that he passed away today at the age of 85, the New York Times reported.

Goodlatte said last night that "H.R. 6671 preserves careful protections for consumers' privacy while modernizing the law to empower consumers to do more with their video consumption preferences, including sharing favorite TV shows or recently watched movies via social media networks in a simple way."

The House already approved a bill to update the VPPA last year, but the Senate made several recommendations, The Hill reported. Goodlatte's bill now requires services like Netflix to obtain explicit consent for the sharing of video-watching history on outside sites like Facebook. These permission-based menus must be separate from other menus on the site, like terms of service or privacy policy approvals. That consent expires after 24 months, at which time the consumer will have to opt-in once again.

Legislation to modernize the VPPA has received support from Netflix, which appeared on Capitol Hill earlier this year to push for change.

The bill now heads to the Senate for approval; The Hill said it could be voted on in the coming weeks.

For more from Chloe, follow her on Twitter @ChloeAlbanesius.

Source: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2413397,00.asp?kc=PCRSS05079TX1K0000993

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