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The social network's users pour tons of personal information onto their profile pages, and into e-mails with other users on Facebook's site.
So can Facebook do anything with that information? Would it?
Earlier this month Facebook quietly updated its terms of use, saying members are agreeing to a license to use their content "on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof", whether or not users have removed the content or their profile from the site. The Consumerist blog, which is owned by Consumer Reports, on Sunday, described this policy as "We Can Do Anything We Want With Your Content. Forever."
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg responded with a blog post Monday, with the headline "On Facebook, People Own and Control Their Information," explaining the license as a practical, necessary step to allow Facebook to share information. Zuckerberg uses the example of e-mails sent within the Facebook platform: even if you deactivate your account, your friend still has a copy of your message.
Bottom line, Zuckerberg writes: "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."
Facebook knows that it needs its users to feel like their information isn't being exploited and won't be exploited if they were to leave the site. Zuckerberg is right, that the site depends on it. But the way the terms are written, it does seem to include more than the right to send e-mail messages, and Facebook does need to be careful about what it's licensing and how it's perceived.
This isn't Facebook's first controversy over privacy issues. In 2007 Facebook launched an ad program called "Beacon" that tracked users online purchases (from Zappos.com for shoes, to travel sites) and shared that info with their friends. Beacon drew so much criticism from users, Zuckerberg apologized to the site's members and gave the option of turning the program off.
Facebook survived the Beacon controversy and has thrived since then, adding tens of millions of more users. Zuckerberg seems to get how crucial this issue is, so I'd expect him and his team to do whatever it takes to reassure blogs like Consumerist as well as the sites users.
Questions? Comments?
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