Facebook Freakout: The Fine Line between Piracy and Privacy
About five years ago, I got swept into the newest and hottest social networking craze… that’s right, you guessed it, Facebook. At the time, I thought it could be a fun way to link up with old friends, distant cousins and share pictures and updates. What I had predicted as a medium growth fad has actually turned into a social networking revolution, now connecting some 175 million users of all ages and backgrounds with their friends and families.
Admittedly, I find myself spending less and less time these days flipping through Facebook’s numerous pages. In part, the gimmick of poking friends and throwing zombies at girls I had crushes on in elementary school has worn off. But also, I am still recovering from the recent fiasco surrounding FB’s Terms of Service. You see, like 98% of all internet users, I simply don’t have the time (nor the desire) to read through every licensing agreement or terms of reference thrown at me when registering for a new service or downloading a new application. Not only is the wording always super dry and legal, but it is also made deliberately long and in the smallest font available so that even the bravest and most protective of users (the other 2%) eventually cave in about half way through, scroll down and click “I agree”.
Anyway, all this to say that it took me close to five years to realize that I had effectively sold off my first born child to Facebook and had handed over full rights to use and distribute all of my personal information, photos, videos etc. Quite frankly, I don’t think that the details of my personal life are exciting enough to be of any real value, with the possible exception of marketing firms looking to send me targeted ads. But that’s besides the point! The real danger is that we are all being tactfully swindled out of our privacy without fully realizing the potential long-term implications at the time of registering, whether it be on FB or other social networking sites.
Intrigued, and also slightly offended at having been duped, I dusted off my old Sherlock Holmes pipe and hat, and started doing a little investigative work into this whole Facebook privacy issue. I figured that the best starting point would be their Terms of Service. At the time of my investigations, I was shocked to see how much control was being handed over to FB on the content posted by its members. Not only did the Terms stipulate that all users granted FB “an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license… to use, copy, publicly perform, publicly display, reformat, translate, excerpt (in whole or in part) and distribute” user content but it also reserved the right to archive that content even after a user had deleted their account! It turns out that the Terms were eventually modified (and significantly softened) on May 1, 2009, following public uproar at Facebook and significant media coverage of the controversy by the New York Times, Foley Hoag LLP, The Consumerist and others.
I am far from being a paranoid individual and tend to ignore most of my conspiracy theorist friends who think that the CIA are tapping their phone lines and are being followed in unmarked black vehicles to their Wednesday night bowling practices. But, after a bit more research, I do think there is cause for concern, though not cause for alarm… yet. I guess what shocks me most is that my entire life (documented in FB messages, wall posts, photos and videos) is being archived and can eventually be sold, distributed and used to track my political views, personal preferences, health issues, social habits etc. The idea that this information could be used for marketing purposes does not really bother me as much as it annoys me. What scares me most is that this personal, and potential compromising, data could one day be used by governments, employers or other entities that I have not explicitly authorized to access personal info on my life!
I for one was definitely shocked to discover this about my Facebook account and would like to open the floor to any feedback and opinions that you have on issues of privacy, content ownership and social networking sites. What do you think? Is it just a lot of paranoid hooplah for no good reason or is there a real threat to our rights and are we slowly losing control of our identities?