"Status update: Facebook Users Are Irate"
Sarah Schmidt, Canwest News Service
2/17/09
http://www.vancouversun.com/Technology/Status+update+Facebook+users+irate/1295796/story.html


In news report 2, I talked about MySpace and their sexual predators. Today, I am continuing with the social networking theme. Facebook is probably the more widely used social networking tool for college students because it began strictly as a “college site.” Over the past few years of use, I have seen my share of questionable photos posted on the site. Before students decide exploit themselves or friends they should look at the new terms of service that Facebook has recently amended.
The change came February 4th, according to Sarah Schmidt, the author of “Status update: Facebook Users are Irate.” In this article Schmidt describes the old terms of service as “Facebook's worldwide license to any uploaded material automatically expired if a user removed it and closed the account, according to the old terms of service (TOS).” Now, users are subject to Facebook being able to keep your information and things that were uploaded to the site even long after you have deleted your account.
I first saw news of this when I was browsing Facebook and saw a friend had joined a group calling for a Facebook boycott because of the new terms of service. At the time the article was published, the author had found three anti-Facebook groups regarding Facebook’s new policy. At 8:53 on February 17, 2009, I found at least ten groups and I know there are more! According to Facebook, the materials are not deleted by Facebook after your cancellation of your account, but can be deleted by your friends (i.e. wall posts, etc). I do not agree with Facebook’s stance on this because it is not that difficult to add a few lines of code that will clear the deleted user’s “belongings.”
With that in mind Facebook is now facing scrutiny from Canada, yes the Canucks are crying out about privacy issues! Most of the issues deal with the same that many young Americans are facing.
I am kind of undecided on the issue because I agree that Facebook should delete information once an account is gone. On the other hand, Facebook makes money on advertising. So, if you want to continue a free Facebook then this is the way to go. After all, you do not have to put any specific information such as a phone number. Facebook pretty much leaves it up to the user to determine what they want to put on their page.