Law Change May Let Facebook Users Share Netflix Viewing

Would you want your Facebook friends to know exactly what you watch in the privacy of your home?
Netflix will soon make it an option... with users getting the choice to share their video streaming histories, on social media.

That's because of an amendment signed into law this week - regarding the way customer information is revealed.
Netflix says it will launch "social features" in the U.S. sometime this year. 

The sharing would be on a case by case basis and users could opt-in - or out - at any time - an important option lawmakers insisted on. 

The change is seen as a victory for Netflix. The video streaming giant had been pressing lawmakers to amend a 1988 law called the "video privacy protection act."

The law previously prohibited "video tape service providers" from sharing customer information without the customer's written consent. But a post-VHS internet age put the law into question, with Netflix itself calling it "ambiguous" and "confusing." 

The consent issue isn't the only headache the act has caused the company. 
Last year, Netflix paid $9 million to settle claims it didn't delete customer account data after one year -- another provision of the law.

(Alison Kosik, CNN)