INTERNET AND NEW MEDIA

Facebook Does About-Face on Privacy Change 

Tens of thousands of Facebook users worldwide were upset over policy changes made by the social-networking site’s privacy policy. Changes to Facebook's terms of service include a new line stating it will forever retain ownership of anything posted, even after the account has been cancelled.  

Facebook has apparently bowed to pressure from users and done about-face and returned to its original policy - at least for now.

A New Zealand lawyer specialising in internet issues, Peter Dengate-Thrush told NZ TV that “a lot privacy principles people rely on here, tend to only apply to official agencies and Government departments.”

Privacy laws in various countries don’t apply to a business operating outside the country. 

Facebook, in Palo Alto, updated the policy February 4, but the changes were little noticed until February 14, when they were picked up by a blog, Consumerist.com, which is now run by the publisher of Consumer Reports. One blog compares the policy with those of other social networking sites - MySpace, Flickr, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter and Picasa. Signed Amanda French, the post called Facebook's privacy claims "extraordinarily grabby and arrogant." 

The notice on users' home pages February 17 night read, "Over the past few days, we have received a lot of good 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." 

On the Facebook blog, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that users will be involved in crafting the new terms. 

The new policy isn't much different from the old, but people have taken issue with the deletion of language that said Facebook's license to use members' information would "automatically expire" if the content were removed. 

Mr. Zuckerberg said the new terms are necessary to reflect the fact that friends may retain a copy of that message or other information once a user shares it with them.

“Even if the person deactivates their account, their friend still has a copy of that message,” Mr. Zuckerberg said. “We think this is the right way for Facebook to work, and it is consistent with how other services like e-mail work. One of the reasons we updated our terms was to make this more clear. We wouldn't share your information in a way you wouldn't want." 

Mr. Zuckerberg acknowledged that Facebook, which boasts 175 million users around the world, still has “work to do to communicate more clearly” about how information is shared on the site.

An Associated Press reports says, “The rapidly growing site has had several run-ins with users over its short history.

“In late 2007, for example, a tracking tool called “Beacon” caught users off-guard by broadcasting information about their shopping habits and activities at other websites. After initially defending the practice, Facebook ultimately allowed users to turn Beacon off.”