Facebook Inc. is close to a settlement with the U.S. government over charges that it misled users about its use of their personal information, the latest sign of widening public concern over privacy in the digital age.

According to people familiar with the talks, the settlement would require Facebook to obtain users’ consent before making “material retroactive changes” to its privacy policies. That means that Facebook must get consent to share data in a way that is different from how the user originally agreed the data could be used.

This a big movement that has really been going on since 2009 and it is sad that it takes a lawsuit to get Facebook to do the right thing. Everyone should have a right to privacy and only by consent should anyone’s information be shared.