Facebook terms of service and privacy problems. (Week 4)

I use Facebook every day. I'm an addict. Although, I'd be surprised to meet a university student that wasn't. But despite the fact that I use it every day, I've never read the terms of service. It's the big, long, list of things you can and can't do, things Facebook can and can't do, things advertisers can and can't do, etc. It's a lot easier to just click 'accept' and get past the boring stuff. That said, it's a good idea to know what you're getting yourself into. Because there are some things on there that you should know before you start posting pictures of yourself online and publishing your personal information.

Facebooks terms of service make for long and dry reading. Fortunately, the guys over at Slacktory dumbed it down, and added plenty of swearwords to make it less like a legal document and more readable.

This picture - if it's on Facebook, it's theirs.

In essence, Facebook owns the things you post. Pictures, videos, they can use them however they like. If you deactivate your account to try and get rid of it, Facebook will still have all the information from your profile. And if you delete your account trying to get rid of it, then they'll still have it for 90 days. And, if any of your friends reposted your stuff, or have it up, then Facebook can continue to use it however they like. As long as its on the site, they can do what they want with it - even if they wanted to make a coffee table book of peoples embarassing drunken photos.

Facebook also finds out where you are using it, your IP address, other websites you're accessing, and what sort of device you're using to access it. It can then give this information to advertising companies, so that the ads you see on your homepage - personally picked for you.

That said, while Facebook may seem like it'll evolve into Skynet at the drop of a hat, it also has a number of protective measures in place. People can't say whatever they want, hate speech and that sort of thing are banned. People can't post pornographic images, or do anything that compromises someone elses rights, and they can't post viruses. Privacy settings aren't compromised - although beware if your settings are on 'everyone.' That means that literally everyone, even if they don't have a Facebook account, can access all your information.

So while not exactly unexpected (apart from the ownership issues on media you post), Facebooks Terms of Service are well worth a read so you know what you're getting yourself into. And if you're wanting to advertise or make any money on Facebook, there are another whole set of rules to read.

For further information, you can check out Facebooks official TOS here.


References:

- Lothe, M 2011, The Entire Facebook terms of Service in Bro Speak, viewed 18 August 2011, http://slacktory.com/2011/08/entire-facebook-terms-of-service-in-bro-speak/

- Facebook, 2010, Facebook's Privacy Policy, viewed 18 August 2011, http://www.facebook.com/policy.php