Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2009
| Subscribe to Newser's RSS feeds RSS | Follow Newser on Twitter Twitter


7

New Facebook Fine Print Irks Users in Privacy Tug-of-War

Clause giving site permanent license to content slammed

Share

(Newser) – An outcry over a terms of service change has forced Facebook's founder to reassure users that they still own and control their own information, the New York Times reports. The update—which remains unchanged—removed a provision that said users could delete their content at any time, and added a clause saying users’ content would be retained even after accounts are terminated.

Facebook spokesmen stressed that the company's philosophy of users owning their information was unchanged, and that the update was intended to reflect user behavior. Comments left by users, for example, will not vanish if an account is deleted, they said. Some users, protesting that the new terms mean "Facebook owns you," have deactivated their accounts. Legal experts say Facebook's fine print isn't much different from many other websites.

Users are up in arms over the latest update to Facebook's terms of service, which gives the site permanent license to users' conten, even if an account is deleted.
Users are up in arms over the latest update to Facebook's terms of service, which gives the site permanent license to users' conten, even if an account is deleted.   (AP Photo/Medill, News Service, Lillian Cunningham)
Users are up in arms over the latest update to Facebook's terms of service, which gives the site permanent license to users' content, even if an account is deleted.
Users are up in arms over the latest update to Facebook's terms of service, which gives the site permanent license to users' content, even if an account is deleted.   (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, file)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

We certainly did not—and did not intend—to create any new right or interest for Facebook in users' data by issuing the new terms. - Facebook spokesman Barry Schnitt

Zuckerberg’s response to the protest is just the modern version of ‘Ignore the fine print, ma’am, just sign here.’
- New Yorker writer Sasha Frere-Jones

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
OFF THE GRID
11.23.09
Books Are Bad for You
11.20.09
The Health-Care Wars Have Just Begun
7 comments
VIEWING:
 
Vanilla
Feb 17, 09 4:58 AM CST
Talk about a lack of privacy. Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
0
nick
Feb 17, 09 6:27 AM CST
If you have something to hide, maybe you don't belong on Facebook. For instance, if a sex offender is offended by the new policy, it's probably a good policy. If privacy is your main issue, stay off of social websites! Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
0
IN RESPONSE:
Nagual
Feb 17, 09 2:23 PM CST
Woah, what's this? So now we're not allowed to congregrate on social websites without relinquishing our individual property rights? This is madness.
Vote up! Vote down!
0
nick
Feb 17, 09 4:05 PM CST
Now that you know the new rules, you can accept them and continue to congregate, or don't accept them and leave. It's not madness, it's your choice. Simple as that. Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
0
Bryanw55
Feb 17, 09 4:20 PM CST
So the only people who should be concerned about privacy are sex offenders now? So I guess you won't mind if the state puts a camera on you all of the time, any time huh, if you've got nothing to hide? Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
0

View all 7 comments »

LEAVE A
COMMENT Comment Policy
Facebook ConnectPost this comment to Facebook?

After connecting you will have the option to post your comment on your Facebook profile.

 

Related Newser Stories

341 Stories

BIG BROTHER

Cops Use Facebook to Bust Underage Drinkers

Phony 'friend' gains access to drinking photos

Nov 19, 09 6:19 PM CST
(Newser) - Wisconsin college student Adam Bauer should represent a cautionary tale for Facebook users under 21, or otherwise on the wrong side of the law: be careful what you post, and whom you friend. Shortly after accepting a request from an unfamiliar, “good-looking girl,” Bauer was invited to the... More »

MORE ABOUT:
social networking • law enforcement • Facebook • sexual predator • underage drinking • invasion of privacy • University of Wisconsin-La Crosse

OPINION

 Time to 
 Crack Down 
 on Jihad 2.0 



Web indoctrination of terrorists on US soil poses major threat

Nov 19, 09 8:46 AM CST
(Newser) - Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has knocked Nidal Hasan out of the headlines but the Fort Hood suspect is the kind of threat America needs to focus on, warns Daniel Henninger. Home-grown terrorists, indoctrinated over the Internet, are now more of a danger than "old-school" jihadis abroad, and the ideology that... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Internet • terrorism • free speech • Facebook • First Amendment • counterterrorism • terror websites • domestic terrorism • Nidal Malik Hasan

 Facebook's 
 Most Annoying 
 Parents 

Enough with the sonogram pictures and toilet training status updates

Nov 18, 09 12:12 PM CST
(Newser) - The latest annoying trend on Facebook isn’t people who write in all caps or insist on using “ur” instead of “your”—it’s parents. Babble runs down the five most annoying types:
  • Obsessives: If you absolutely have to post a sonogram picture, fine. But
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
social networking • Facebook • parents

341 Stories


Facebook's new terms spark ownership fears
Consumerist

Facebook chief defends policy
Facebook

Facebook change irks bloggers
Chicago Tribune


Technology  •  Business  •  Media 
TwitterFollow @NewserTech on Twitter

 
social networking • Internet • Facebook • Mark Zuckerberg • online privacy • terms of service • Internet privacy

from our news partners