Facebook Doesn’t Own Your Info/Pictures

Yesterday, there was an outcry from thousands when Facebook changed its terms of service claiming ownership of anything uploaded to the social network [via Consumerist].

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has gone on the record to say that users will always own and control their information, not Facebook.

“Our philosophy that people own their information and control who they share it with has remained constant.” he wrote. “A lot of the language in our terms is overly formal and protective of the rights we need to provide this service to you. Over time we will continue to clarify our positions and make the terms simpler.”

A Facebook rep continues,” We are not claiming and have never claimed ownership of material that users upload. The new Terms were clarified to be more consistent with the behavior of the site. That is, if you send a message to another user (or post to their wall, etc…), that content might not be removed by Facebook if you delete your account (but can be deleted by your friend). Furthermore, it is important to note that this license is made subject to the user’s privacy settings. So any limitations that a user puts on display of the relevant content (e.g. To specific friends) are respected by Facebook. Also, the license only allows us to use the info ‘in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof.’ Users generally expect and understand this behavior as it has been a common practice for web services since the advent of webmail. For example, if you send a message to a friend on a webmail service, that service will not delete that message from your friend’s inbox if you delete your account.”

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