Washington, DC – A recent change in Facebook’s terms of service was uncovered by a consumer blog today that claimed the popular social networking site would have complete rights to anything that its users uploaded, even after the user terminated their account.
“This change should cause great concern to consumers,” said Americans for Technology Leadership executive director Randy Skoglund. “Facebook, and other online companies, need to be transparent in their business practices and let consumers know exactly what personal information will be retained and what it will be used for.
This clause was recently changed by Facebook. Initially, once users closed their accounts, Facebook no longer had rights to anything uploaded. Now, Facebook forever retains rights to anything uploaded by its users.
This change means that even after an account is closed, Facebook can still claim rights to any content formerly uploaded onto their website, which even includes sublicensing. Any pictures a user posted might show up ten years down the road in an advertisement, or on a website, and there’s nothing users can do about it.
“To remove an important clause once users have already signed up gives consumers no real choice in how their information is used. Such a move is a breach of trust by the company,” added Skoglund.
“Consumers need to be aware of the privacy clauses on websites that ask for personal information. And in this age of Google-ing, users should be careful about the personal details and photos they post of themselves online at all times,” Skoglund concluded.
Americans for Technology Leadership is a broad-based coalition of technology professionals, consumers and organizations dedicated to limiting government regulation of technology and fostering competitive market solutions to public policy issues affecting the technology industry.
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