Why Americans Can't Really Use Netflix's Facebook App

Unfortunately for Americans who want to use all of the features in Netflix's Facebook application, the Video Privacy Protection Act of 1988 still hasn't been updated.

Unfortunately for Americans who’ve been clamoring for the ability to use all of the features in Netflix’s Facebook application, the Video Privacy Protection Act of 1988 still hasn’t been updated.

According to CNNMoney, VPPA was spawned when Washington City Paper freelance writer Michael Dolan obtained the rental history of then-Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork in 1987 and published it to prove a point. VPPA became law a few months later.

However, VPPA prohibits home video rental services from disclosing customers’ personal information without their written consent, and the 25-year-old legislation does not account for current technology, despite a 1988 revision that expanded the wording to “videotapes or similar audiovisual materials.”

Hulu ventured into the grey area of VPPA with its Facebook app, which allows users to opt-in or opt-out of sharing their viewing histories, but Netflix spokesman Steve Swasey said his company would not follow suit, telling CNNMoney:

It’s ambiguous about whether it applies...

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