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Norwegians plan to harpoon Twitter

Wailing on fail whale imminent

A battling consumer group has pledged to take on Twitter, accusing it of breaching privacy laws.

The Norwegian Consumer Council, which has a legal battle with Apple under its belt, said social networking sites' terms and conditions are unfair.

"None of the international social networks adhere to even the most basic contractual and privacy principles that apply in an offline environment," spokesman Hans Marius Graasvold told Out-Law.

"We can't allow these social media and other types of online services set the agenda for what should be the future of online contracts and also online privacy. We need to step up to the test now and do something about it now."

Despite its recent privacy tweaks, the Council plans a formal complaint about Facebook in the new year. Gripes about Twitter and LinkedIn are likely to follow.

"Practically no consumers read the terms of online services," Graasvold said.

"The very few that read them don't understand them. That wouldn't be a huge problem if the terms of service were actually consumer-friendly and in line with traditional contract law and privacy principles."

In October, the Council warned Amazon it will have to radically change its terms and conditions if it wants to sell Kindle e-readers in Norway. ®

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