Do you belong to Facebook, forever?

Do you belong to Facebook, forever?

12:59 PM CST, February 16, 2009
The blogosphere is abuzz after a popular consumer affairs blog pointed out changes to Facebook's terms of use that the social networking Web site quietly made earlier this month.

Consumerist, a blog owned by the publisher of Consumer Reports, published a post on Sunday that summed up the changes with the alarming title: "We Can Do Anything We Want With Your Content. Forever."

Suzie White, Facebook's corporate counsel for commercial transactions, announced on the company's official blog on Feb. 4 that the site was updating its terms of use. She said Facebook "simplified and clarified a lot of information … including some things you shouldn't do when using the site."

White also wrote that "these updates provide you with the same level of protection you have come to expect from Facebook."



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Twitter has everyone talking, but will the conversation ever be punctuated with a profit? However, Consumerist and other observers believe that Facebook's changes have left its members vulnerable to having their content used without their permission, even if they delete information from their profiles. Both the old and the new terms of use specify that Facebook members grant the site a license to use content "on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof."

The old agreement contained language saying that this license would "automatically expire" if content was removed from the site. Those lines are gone from the new terms of use.

A Facebook spokesman said early Monday afternoon that the company was preparing a response.