Engaging Culture
There’s No Quitting Facebook Now
The social-networking giant Facebook quietly made a change to its user Terms of Service (TOS) on Feb. 4. Facebook now declares that it has a perpetual license to use anything you post to your own Facebook page — even if you terminate your account. As of Feb. 4th, consider yourself owned by Facebook.
I hope the push back they get causes them to rethink and amend this. Thanks for the update!
This is just sad..
BTW I always click your links on twitter because I think they are links to interesting articles..instead they link here your awesome blog. Thanks for the interesting posts.
Phil, thousands of us on Facebook are not taking this change of TOS sitting down.
There is one protest group with over 33,000 members. I started a group yesterday that already has over 1,100 members. There are several other groups. Combined its only a drop in the bucket of the 175 MILLION active users on Facebook, but that’s why those of us who care about Facebook, enjoying using the FREE service (yes, it’s free and let’s keep it free, please!), and want to see Facebook do right by its users need to speak up and not let them get away with this. I think we can affect some real positive change here, and I’m happy to be a small part of that.
So please help spread the word and invite others to join this protest group and get Facebook’s attention:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=68335057941
(Just to be clear, Facebook doesn’t "own" anyone or anyone’s stuff. What they are asserting is copyright permissions, rights, to use your stuff — whatever you upload to Facebook, photos, video, writing, etc. — "irrevocably" and "perpetually" FOREVER. That’s the change to the TOS. It wasn’t "forever" before.)
BTW — Did you see the link love I gave you the other day over at the Leadership Network Digital blog? I forgot to send you the link earlier! Here it is:
http://digital.leadnet.org/2009/02/the-future-of-religious-tv.html
I’d love to hear/read your reaction to what I wrote there, so give that some link-love back when you get a chance, OK?
Shalom,
Steve K.
I think all of the uproar is a little over the top. You’re always taking a risk when you put personal information out on the Internet for all — or at least a lot — to see. It comes with the territory. Eventually someone is going to try to take advantage. Sad but true.
does this include video content you post like sermon content?
They have reverted to the old terms and conditions now after much confusion. They say they will be revising the new policy.
On my Facebook home page this morning:
"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".
Apparently, the uprising worked…