Facebook CEO defends change in terms of use

Concern grew among users recently when its terms of service for the site were amended, and a provision was removed that said users could remove their content at any time.

 
The previous terms of use, published on 24th May, 2007, claimed that by posting user content to any part of the site, you grant the company the right to use, copy, publicly display and distribute user content.  

However the changes, made on 4th February 2009, removed the line ‘you may remove your user content from the site at any time. If you choose to remove your user content, the license granted above will automatically expire, however you acknowledge that the company may retain archived copies of your user content'.

 
Writing in a blog, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg claimed that the change will allow people to have greater control over their own information.

In a blog posting, Zuckerberg claimed that the philosophy of Facebook is that ‘people own their information and control who they share it with. When a person shares information on Facebook, they first need to grant Facebook a license to use that information so that we can show it to the other people they've asked us to share it with. Without this license, we couldn't help people share that information'.

He explained that when a message is sent only two copies are created for the sender and recipient and if one user deactivates their account, the other will still have a copy of the message. 

Zuckerberg said: “We think this is the right way for Facebook to work, and it is consistent with how other services like email work. One of the reasons we updated our terms was to make this more clear.

“In reality, we wouldn't share your information in a way you wouldn't want. The trust you place in us as a safe place to share information is the most important part of what makes Facebook work. Our goal is to build great products and to communicate clearly to help people share more information in this trusted environment.”

See original article on scmagazineuk.com