Spring Break
Facebook revises new privacy policy
Cameron Birch
Issue date: 2/27/09 Section: News
Facebook and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, underwent scrutiny last week as consumers and bloggers noted a Feb. 4 privacy policy change to the Facebook terms of use.
The company revised its terms of use to state that it claims ownership of user information even after the account is cancelled, according to an article on MSNBC.
Facing criticism, the policy was changed via a blog post from Zuckerberg Feb. 16.
Zuckerberg clarified the change and said Facebook's philosophy is that people own their information and the right to determine with which people that information is shared.
"When a person shares information on Facebook [they grant] a license to use that information so that we can show it to the other people they've asked us to share it with. Without this license, we couldn't help people share that information," Zuckerberg said.
The consumer advocate blog, The Consumerist and technology site CNET, were among many online venues where users expressed concerns.
"My problem is that many of us have personal data, including information and images about our children, employment, education, and other demographic and sometimes non-public information that we would not want sold to 3rd parties without our permission. Now they can sell to marketers whatever they want and we have no say or control over our exposure to these 3rd party organizations," a comment on The Consumerist said.
Kristen Smith, president of the Drexel Undergraduate Student Association at Drexel, said it's important students don't put stuff up on Facebook they don't want everybody to see.
Smith emphasized how photos, more than words, can cause problems for students on Facebook. The student president compared this somewhat with recent discussions on the former gossip web site JuicyCampus.
"To give them [Facebook] freedom with our information would be a bad idea. The change in policy that they would propose would give them access to our information forever would be a bit extreme," Michele Keenan, president of the Drexel Panhellenic Council, said.
The company revised its terms of use to state that it claims ownership of user information even after the account is cancelled, according to an article on MSNBC.
Facing criticism, the policy was changed via a blog post from Zuckerberg Feb. 16.
Zuckerberg clarified the change and said Facebook's philosophy is that people own their information and the right to determine with which people that information is shared.
"When a person shares information on Facebook [they grant] a license to use that information so that we can show it to the other people they've asked us to share it with. Without this license, we couldn't help people share that information," Zuckerberg said.
The consumer advocate blog, The Consumerist and technology site CNET, were among many online venues where users expressed concerns.
"My problem is that many of us have personal data, including information and images about our children, employment, education, and other demographic and sometimes non-public information that we would not want sold to 3rd parties without our permission. Now they can sell to marketers whatever they want and we have no say or control over our exposure to these 3rd party organizations," a comment on The Consumerist said.
Kristen Smith, president of the Drexel Undergraduate Student Association at Drexel, said it's important students don't put stuff up on Facebook they don't want everybody to see.
Smith emphasized how photos, more than words, can cause problems for students on Facebook. The student president compared this somewhat with recent discussions on the former gossip web site JuicyCampus.
"To give them [Facebook] freedom with our information would be a bad idea. The change in policy that they would propose would give them access to our information forever would be a bit extreme," Michele Keenan, president of the Drexel Panhellenic Council, said.
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