Technology

Palo Alto-based Facebook has reassured users that its updated Terms of Service were not meant to secure any new right to members' uploads.

An article published on The Consumerist Sunday sparked interest among social networkers, warning the new Terms meant, "We Can Do Anything We Want With Your Content."

Online message boards buzzed with worries that uploaded content like photos and videos would remain Facebook property even if a member chose to delete the original account. Twitterers squawked about the possibility of said photos and videos winding up.. well, who knows where?

Jim Goldstein, a professional photographer in San Francisco, told CBS5 he is "extremely displeased and alarmed."

He had already taken his photos off Facebook a year ago, now he plans to disconnect from the service altogether.

"You can't quit facebook," Goldstein said. "You can only disable your account. And yeah, that's where I'm headed."

But Facebook spokesman Barry Schnitt likened the terms to those used by popular webmail sites.

"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," Schnitt said.

The Consumerist asserts this still leaves Facebook the right to do "whatever it wants" with your content.

Schnitt counters that the license only allows use of the data "in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof."

And Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg blogged Monday, "We wouldn't share your information in a way you wouldn't want."

Melissa Griffin -- a legal expert and blogger -- says Facebook's vague licensing policy has understandably alarmed users, especially considering one of the new terms of usage allows Facebook to license anything you post even if you close your account.

"We're supposed to just trust that they will do what's in the best interest of facebook and that includes protecting people's privacy," said Griffin. "I'm not sure I buy that or that any person who is interested in privacy rights are going to get comfort from such a statement."

For the record, here is the entire statement from Facebook:

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 information "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.

One of the most important goals of the new Terms was to be more open to users by being more clear about how their data was handled. We certainly did not - and did not intend - to create any new right or interest for Facebook in users' data by issuing the new Terms. None of the news or blog reports at the time we announced them on February 4 suggested any confusion or misunderstanding.

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