User data ownership on Facebook and why it doesn’t matter

February 17, 2009 By

Geesh, everyone got their panties in a bunch over the weekend due to Facebook’s new terms of service.

Truth is it doesn’t matter.

If you are uploading your content to, and participating online with, you are giving a HUGE amount of ownership to services that, well, you really don’t control.

They can go out of business. They can delete your account. They can make money off of your content. They probably all have wacky stuff in their terms of services.

This is true for Flickr. For YouTube. For Twitter. For Facebook. For all of them.

I’ve been yelling and screaming about how Facebook has been treating its customers for a year now. Facebook already showed how they treat you by the way they delete accounts: they have complete control and you have none.

Deal with it! Me? I dealt with it by putting all my photos into the public domain when I upload them to Flickr.

I dealt with it by having Fast Company own its own servers and content. It’s a real pain, too, takes me a lot longer to upload my videos to FastCompany.tv than it does to upload them to TubeMogul. But then we have control and we know when ads will be put on top of our content, etc.

So, relax, have fun, just realize you’re here to serve Facebook, not necessarily the other way around.

UPDATE: There’s an interesting conversation going on about this over on friendfeed, including links to a comparison of several TOS’s of several user generated content sites.

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  • Incognita

    Can you help?

    Hi,

    I did not violate any rules, I just accidentally deleted my account and would like it back. Unfortunately when I try to log in, I no longer exist because I added my email to my daughters account which caused my account to disappear. Please, please help!

  • Incognita

    Can you help?

    Hi,

    I did not violate any rules, I just accidentally deleted my account and would like it back. Unfortunately when I try to log in, I no longer exist because I added my email to my daughters account which caused my account to disappear. Please, please help!

  • http://www.sohbetkeyf.com/ Bayanlarla Sohbet

    Yes.Me to have read about Facebook TOS scandal…

  • http://www.sohbetkeyf.com Bayanlarla Sohbet

    Yes.Me to have read about Facebook TOS scandal…

  • http://www.tonido.com/ rivercity

    Social networking sites are like banks. They create value only if people create content or deposit money (in case of banks). If the service provider sabotages customers’ trust, I don’t see a sustainable future for that particular business. Just posted my views on this episode here:http://www.codelathe.com/blog/index.php/2009/02/21/facebook-sixth-most-populous-kingdom-on-earth/

  • http://www.tonido.com rivercity

    Social networking sites are like banks. They create value only if people create content or deposit money (in case of banks). If the service provider sabotages customers’ trust, I don’t see a sustainable future for that particular business. Just posted my views on this episode here:http://www.codelathe.com/blog/index.php/2009/02/21/facebook-sixth-most-populous-kingdom-on-earth/

  • http://www.alienspaces.com/ Ray Scott

    It does matter. They have no right to make money off your content unless it CC. And changing their terms AFTER you have signed up with a different agreement is just plain shady.

    You say it doesn’t matter in the title of your post, but you wouldn’t upload your videos there. Still bitter about them deleting your account. tut tut.

    Thanks for the laugh.

  • http://www.alienspaces.com Ray Scott

    It does matter. They have no right to make money off your content unless it CC. And changing their terms AFTER you have signed up with a different agreement is just plain shady. \

    You say it doesn’t matter in the title of your post, but you wouldn’t upload your videos there. Still bitter about them deleting your account. tut tut.

    Thanks for the laugh.

  • http://www.coffeerama.com/ Joe

    the fact that Facebook change their TOS back so quickly is an indication that they knew they were wrong in the first place

  • http://www.coffeerama.com Joe

    the fact that Facebook change their TOS back so quickly is an indication that they knew they were wrong in the first place

  • http://xploretech.blogspot.com/ Abhishek

    @Ray – Almost every “Terms & Conditions” that I’ve come across has a clause that effectively amounts to “We reserve the rights to change these terms at any point in future”.

    So no, changing the terms AFTER we have signed up with a different agreement is not all that shady.

  • http://xploretech.blogspot.com Abhishek

    @Ray – Almost every “Terms & Conditions” that I’ve come across has a clause that effectively amounts to “We reserve the rights to change these terms at any point in future”.

    So no, changing the terms AFTER we have signed up with a different agreement is not all that shady.

  • http://www.leadsexplorer.com/ Engago Team

    Free Use rhymes with Free Content.
    Pay Use rhymes with Proprietary Content.

    Get a paid service and sleep well.

  • http://www.leadsexplorer.com Engago Team

    Free Use rhymes with Free Content.
    Pay Use rhymes with Proprietary Content.

    Get a paid service and sleep well.

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  • Brian

    Robert, I understand your cynical attitude. But I disagree. The problem here is transparency, or the lack of it by Zuckerberg, et al. They have tried stunts like this before, and luckily for Facebook users, they’ve been outed. The fact that Zuckerberg has tried repeatedly to take control of their users’ content, freely assume that activities of users could be broadcast, that user privacy is unimportant is proof positive of the callous disregard for the people who give any legitimacy or value to Facebook.

    The fact is, Facebook has a broken business model. Zuckerberg is desperately trying to monetize the one thing he has – eyeballs. And unlike Google, he’s doing a terrible job. In 1999, blissed out Internet pundits claimed that savings and earnings no longer mattered, but eyeballs do. Fast forward less than a year later, and they are harshly proven wrong by the decline of the NASDAQ. And yet, Wall Street and pundits alike are falling all over themselves to praise Mark Zuckerberg for his ability to capture eyeballs. But unlike the folks from Google, Facebook is the next cool idea in search of a profitable quarter. In the desperation to convert eyeballs to dollars, Facebook has become arrogant and disingenuous. It’s why I believe that unless Mark Zuckerberg takes a hard look at the ethics of running his business, that the day may come when Facebook, despite its large membership, becomes a Trivial Pursuit question.

    And for me, that day can’t come soon enough. I am proud NOT to be a member of Facebook.

  • Brian

    Robert, I understand your cynical attitude. But I disagree. The problem here is transparency, or the lack of it by Zuckerberg, et al. They have tried stunts like this before, and luckily for Facebook users, they’ve been outed. The fact that Zuckerberg has tried repeatedly to take control of their users’ content, freely assume that activities of users could be broadcast, that user privacy is unimportant is proof positive of the callous disregard for the people who give any legitimacy or value to Facebook.

    The fact is, Facebook has a broken business model. Zuckerberg is desperately trying to monetize the one thing he has – eyeballs. And unlike Google, he’s doing a terrible job. In 1999, blissed out Internet pundits claimed that savings and earnings no longer mattered, but eyeballs do. Fast forward less than a year later, and they are harshly proven wrong by the decline of the NASDAQ. And yet, Wall Street and pundits alike are falling all over themselves to praise Mark Zuckerberg for his ability to capture eyeballs. But unlike the folks from Google, Facebook is the next cool idea in search of a profitable quarter. In the desperation to convert eyeballs to dollars, Facebook has become arrogant and disingenuous. It’s why I believe that unless Mark Zuckerberg takes a hard look at the ethics of running his business, that the day may come when Facebook, despite its large membership, becomes a Trivial Pursuit question.

    And for me, that day can’t come soon enough. I am proud NOT to be a member of Facebook.

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  • http://www.gazeteportal.com/ gazete

    i like facebook, in any conditions, i will continue to live on virtually for friends :D

  • http://www.gazeteportal.com/ gazete

    i like facebook, in any conditions, i will continue to live on virtually for friends :D

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  • eric

    are you on vacation?

    hope all is well.

  • eric

    are you on vacation?

    hope all is well.

  • esd714

    I like the twist FB added yesterday to this–with kind of a WiKi for TOS–making the TOS for the site a community forum.

    Not sure that is a great business decsision, but certainly should untangle bunched up panties.

  • http://iphone.cbsnews.com,http://cbseyemobile.com esd714

    I like the twist FB added yesterday to this–with kind of a WiKi for TOS–making the TOS for the site a community forum.

    Not sure that is a great business decsision, but certainly should untangle bunched up panties.

  • bjorn

    You come into his father’s kingdom if you are U.S. propagandists
    The right to bear arms human right
    Just crap in the tax payer
    Just slide
    Politicians accept the consensus on the term
    Left Intellectual = just kill packet
    General amnesty

  • bjorn

    You come into his father’s kingdom if you are U.S. propagandists
    The right to bear arms human right
    Just crap in the tax payer
    Just slide
    Politicians accept the consensus on the term
    Left Intellectual = just kill packet
    General amnesty

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  • http://www.patrickomalley.com/ Patrick O’Malley

    Well said. Too many people overrate things like this, and after all, you’re dealing with a free site that you gave your pictures and information to.

    Pat O’Malley
    Pat O’Malley

  • http://www.patrickomalley.com Patrick O’Malley

    Well said. Too many people overrate things like this, and after all, you’re dealing with a free site that you gave your pictures and information to.

    Pat O’Malley
    Pat O’Malley

  • http://www.tripcart.com/usa-regions/Central-Kentucky-Tennessee,Family-Vacation-Ideas.aspx Kentucky and Tennessee family

    Is there anything that protects emails from disappearing? Think about the morning after finding out that Yahoo shut down it servers. Worse than Pan Am miles going worthless, Citibank failing, 3000 dow. Have a nice day.

  • http://www.tripcart.com/usa-regions/Central-Kentucky-Tennessee,Family-Vacation-Ideas.aspx Kentucky and Tennessee family vacation ideas

    Is there anything that protects emails from disappearing? Think about the morning after finding out that Yahoo shut down it servers. Worse than Pan Am miles going worthless, Citibank failing, 3000 dow. Have a nice day.

  • Acapulco

    Scoble,

    Are you still alive?

    You posted this on feb the 17th!!!

  • Acapulco

    Scoble,

    Are you still alive?

    You posted this on feb the 17th!!!

  • http://prescinct368cor.wordpress.com/ Theresa Precinct 368cor

    Equally annoying is that way past the elections Facebook is still placing Obama ads near our conservative postings.

  • http://prescinct368cor.wordpress.com Theresa Precinct 368cor

    Equally annoying is that way past the elections Facebook is still placing Obama ads near our conservative postings.

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  • Marco

    Dude… 3 weeks with no post equals dead blog.

  • Marco

    Dude… 3 weeks with no post equals dead blog.

  • http://blogspot.fluidnewmedia.com/ Ahad Bokhari

    I totally agree with you Scobleizer, it could have been said better!

  • http://blogspot.fluidnewmedia.com Ahad Bokhari

    I totally agree with you Scobleizer, it could have been said better!

  • http://blogspot.fluidnewmedia.com/ Ahad Bokhari

    sorry typo, *it couldn’t have said it better (DELETE ME)

  • http://blogspot.fluidnewmedia.com Ahad Bokhari

    sorry typo, *it couldn’t have said it better (DELETE ME)

  • http://www.myspace.com/mitzi_szereto mitziszereto

    frankly i’m fed up with facebook’s gestapo and arbitrary tactics. i’ve had a lot of grief from them and i still continue to get grief. there needs to be some kind of fair system in place, not this random nonsense that results in people having their accounts deleted or being told they can and cannot do such and such. like you, i’m nearly at my limit for adding friends. now what? do i suddenly become anti-social on a social network? they have us at their mercy, they really do.

  • http://www.myspace.com/mitzi_szereto mitziszereto

    frankly i’m fed up with facebook’s gestapo and arbitrary tactics. i’ve had a lot of grief from them and i still continue to get grief. there needs to be some kind of fair system in place, not this random nonsense that results in people having their accounts deleted or being told they can and cannot do such and such. like you, i’m nearly at my limit for adding friends. now what? do i suddenly become anti-social on a social network? they have us at their mercy, they really do.

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  • http://friendfeed.com/interlakechemicals Dan

    I am so tired of reading about Facebook doing this or that. What is next? Facebook comes out with the new fPhone? How can they mine our voice data? I am sure they are already thinking of this.

  • http://friendfeed.com/interlakechemicals Dan

    I am so tired of reading about Facebook doing this or that. What is next? Facebook comes out with the new fPhone? How can they mine our voice data? I am sure they are already thinking of this.

  • Mark

    What’s going on? I just joined FB. It asks, “Who can see this?” and I replied “Only Friends”. Is that not true? FM!

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