Facebook Privacy: Talk About Overreaction!

Facebook has gotten themselves into a pickle again. Changes to their terms of service has reignited fears about the privacy of the information you put onto Facebook. On Monday, Facebook reacted by stating that they do not “own and control their information”.

Now, the Facebook terms of service were last revised on February 4th (as of this writing). What has gotten a lot of attention is the fact that Facebook has removed the language that states that their license to the content is terminated when you delete it. So, essentially, this means that Facebook still owns the content even after you have removed it from their servers.

Facebook has responded by saying this is all much to do about nothing. Mark Zuckerburg said:

We’re at an interesting point in the development of the open online world where these issues are being worked out.

Personally, I don’t think this issue is anything new. I think the changes to the terms just illustrate it. A bit more concerning, though, is this:

We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to change or delete portions of these Terms at any time without further notice. Your continued use of the Facebook Service after any such changes constitutes your acceptance of the new Terms.

So, not only will they retain your data if you delete it, but they can change the terms on us without any notification.

When my bank or a credit card changes the terms, I always get a document in the mail outlining those changes. Now, I’m not saying Facebook needs to mail everybody, however I think notification is important so that users can decide.

Where Does This Leave You?

Facebook is a commercial company. So, obviously, their interest is in fostering the community so that they can also monetize it. The user data is extremely important to that. That said, I think some of these people getting up in arms over this need to pipe down.

Why is it that the government can violate our privacy so blatantly and we think little of it? Yet, Facebook wants to potentially use your preference of movies to recommend you other movies (or something like that) and some act like it is a sign of end times?

A little bit of context would be nice.

The simple fact is this: If you’re not willing for the public to see something about you, don’t put it on the Internet.

Facebook isn’t doing anything that is not done with your data all the time. Grocery stores use data from their frequent shopper cards to get marketing data and sell things to you. I mean, almost anything you do in the marketplace is used in an aggregate fashion to market you more stuff. That’s life!

Why is Facebook subject to a different set of rules?

I’m not saying that Facebook shouldn’t handle things differently. But, I am saying that ultimate responsibility lies with the end user.

Whether it be Facebook, Twitter, or any other site on the Internet that is social in nature, just don’t post anything unless you’re comfortable with the world knowing about it. If you are so private that you don’t want people to know you watched The Lion King over the weekend, then stop telling your social networks that you did that!

Then we’ll all live happily ever after.

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http://romeda.org/ Blaine Cook
There’s a big difference between privacy (i.e., choosing when and where to share things) and legally binding ownership.
Facebook is over-stepping boundaries when they say that they have a perpetual right to re-distribute your content, even after you terminate your Facebook account.
Take for example a photographer; they post some photos, one of which turns out to be really great and marketable. My reading of the Facebook ToS is that they reserve the right to sell your photo so long as it’s “related to Facebook”, which could mean anything, given the Facebook Platform. Because it’s easier for potential buyers to do business with Facebook, and you have offered your content as “paid in full”, Facebook has absolutely no obligation to respect any outside copyright restrictions (or permissions).
I fully agree that in general we are moving towards openness, and that people should be careful what they share online. However, my server host doesn’t own the content that I post using their servers, and people that I email don’t own the copyright to emails that I send. Facebook taking perpetual ownership is a dangerous precedent; if they were to require content to be licensed as creative commons, it would be a different and positive step, imho.
My initial comments are here: http://romeda.org/blog/2009/02/facebook-is-closed-for-anything.html
http://www.mydebtremedy.com Credit Debt Settlement
Really it is nice post and thanks for sharing it.
Sharron Field
I think Facebook will end up being sued and losing unless they change the wording of their TOS. – That’s all I’m saying on the matter for now.
http://www.mikenetpc.com Mike
This is a very interesting topic and Facebook has some wierd wording when it comes to their ToS.
Facebook saying that they can use your the stuff you post for commerical use is what worries me the most, but honestly I kind of assume that when I post something on Facebook. MySpace has a much better wording but almost the same kind of thing. MySpace states that the contect your post is yours but you are giving them the right to add, delete, modify and use at their discretion. But MySpace states that they will only use it on the MySpace site and if you have something marked as private or once you delete you account they will no longer use the contect whether it is archived or not. You Tube funny enough doesn’t have much to say about the intellecual property you post on their website.
Kevin Mason
I guess facebook has backed down from their previous statements because the TOS has been changed back.
“Terms of Use Update
Over the past few days, we have received a lot of feedback about the new terms we posted two weeks ago. Because of this response, we have decided to return to our previous Terms of Use while we resolve the issues that people have raised. For more information, visit the Facebook Blog.
If you want to share your thoughts on what should be in the new terms, check out our group Facebook Bill of Rights and Responsibilities.”
http://www.twitter.com/AndrewPearce Drew
And this children, is the reason why Facebook is a POS!
http://www.coffeerama.com coffee
the fact that Facebook change their TOS back so quickly is an indication that they knew they were wrong in the first place
http://www.mikenetpc.com Mike
I don’t think they really knew that they did something wrong but they probably didn’t realize what a problem this was going to cause. They should have checked all of the possible problems they would encounter with the new TOS. I mean this is a big difference in TOS compared to other social networking sites. Especially in terms of using someone’s content even after they have terminated their membership with the site. But hopefully now they won’t try and slip something else in there thinking that no one reads their TOS.