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The Department of Housing and Urban Development is suing Facebook for housing discrimination. It filed charges against the Menlo Park internet giant on March 28 for allegedly violating the Fair Housing Act by “encouraging, enabling and causing housing discrimination” through the company’s advertising platform, according to a HUD press release.
According to the charges filed, Facebook enabled advertisers to exclude people whom Facebook classified as parents; non-American-born; non-Christian; interested in accessibility; interested in Hispanic culture; or a wide variety of other interests that closely align with the Fair Housing Act’s protected classes. HUD is also charging that Facebook enabled advertisers to exclude people based on sex, race and religion.
“Using a computer to limit a person’s housing choices can be just as discriminatory as slamming a door in someone’s face,” HUD Secretary Ben Carson said in the press release.
The charges stem from a complaint filed by the Department of Justice and HUD with U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York last August on behalf of a number of private litigants challenging Facebook’s advertising platform.
HUD’s charge is set to be heard by a U.S. administrative law judge unless any party to the charge elects to have the case heard in federal district court, according to the press release.
Anyone who believes they have experienced discrimination may file a complaint by contacting HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity at 800-669-9777.
How do I determine what Facebook thinks is my ethnic group and religion and how do I delete that information?
“How do I determine what Facebook thinks is my ethnic group and religion and how do I delete that information?”
I believe you tell them if you want to, it is not something they determine it is self identified. You can do a privacy check and see what is available to others.
As for the lawsuit, Facebook lets users target all ads to specific people (with in specific cities, with specific interestes, specific gender, etc.) Since when creating an add you are paying per view you don’t want to advertize a Piano for sale to soemone 2000 miles away, right. This targeting helps go for the demographic you want and save the advertiser money. It is not limited to people advertising housing.
Brian – you are wrong. Facebook never directly asks you for your ethnic group or religion. They guess that information based on what pages you follow and who are your friends. For example, if you belong to a church group on Facebook, they assume you follow the same religion as the church. If many of your friends belong to the same church groups, they may assume you follow the same religion. For ethnic group, they may use facial recognition software on your photo or the photos of your relatives. If you regularly attend Columbus Day or Saint Patricks Day or Chinese New Year festivals, they may assume you belong to the ethnic groups that celebrate those days. Facebook never asks you if this is OK. I can find no way to block them from building a profile of you based on your “likes” or what pages you click on or who your friends are.