Is Facebook Stealing Your Stuff
WTF ! (as in Frack , not that other F word) is up with Facebook!
I read a very informative article on Mashable this morning explaining how Facebook has quietly changed their terms of service.
The TOS says the following:
You hereby grant Facebook an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to (a) use, copy, publish, stream, store, retain, publicly perform or display, transmit, scan, reformat, modify, edit, frame, translate, excerpt, adapt, create derivative works and distribute (through multiple tiers), any User Content you (i) Post on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof subject only to your privacy settings or (ii) enable a user to Post, including by offering a Share Link on your website and (b) to use your name, likeness and image for any purpose, including commercial or advertising, each of (a) and (b) on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof.
It also used to contain another bit that is now missing.
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.
This is also reinforced by the “Termination” section:
The following sections will survive any termination of your use of the Facebook Service: Prohibited Conduct, User Content, Your Privacy Practices, Gift Credits, Ownership; Proprietary Rights, Licenses, Submissions, User Disputes; Complaints, Indemnity, General Disclaimers, Limitation on Liability, Termination and Changes to the Facebook Service, Arbitration, Governing Law; Venue and Jurisdiction and Other.
What it boils down to is…. They now own you. Yep, you’re now owned by Facebook, even if you quit Facebook, they still own you.
All your stuff that you willing put up on Facebook, is now their stuff.
I don’t know about you… but this worries me.
The truth is … we all need to be cautious of what we put online. Whether it’s Facebook, Myspace or even Twitter, once that information is online, it can be downloaded and used or abused anywhere on the Internet.
Think before you hit that send button next time.
UPDATE: Facebook has reverted back to their previous TOS until the issues can be resolved.
Smart Move on their part.
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5 comments
jimmer
February 18, 2009 at 4:15 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Gee. I noticed a Simpsons Character, a Miss Piggy, and a South park on your blog/site.
Didya pay for those????
karen
February 18, 2009 at 8:30 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Hey Jimmer
You can make your own Simpson and Southpark avatars online and they are free. Just Google Simpson Avatar or Southpark avatar. There are several sites. Lots of fun but be careful, you could end up spending hours on those sites…LOL
coffee
February 22, 2009 at 4:54 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Sadly, most people would not have looked closely enough to notice the change in Facebook’s Terms of Service… looks them social networkers are doing a good job of looking out for each other
Bethany Bennett
May 9, 2010 at 1:26 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Southpark is quite funny but some of the scenes maybe a bit too morbid even for adults.;;’
Magenta Smith
May 27, 2011 at 7:49 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Actually I am one of those who do not real the Terms and Agreement of any online networking site before signing-up.