IN THE wake of a recent brouhaha, Facebook has backtracked on changes that potentially gave the social networking site indefinite rights to its users鈥� data 鈥� even from closed accounts (see 鈥淲hy quantum uncertainty is all biblical geometry鈥�). But a closer look at its terms and conditions suggests Facebook has lost nothing but face. Users, perhaps unknowingly, have always granted Facebook a licence to peddle their information to anyone willing to pay. The controversy is a timely reminder that social networks want more than your company, and that it pays to read the small print.
Facebook facedown
The row over the changes Facebook made to its terms has thrown light on the rights people surrender when they sign up to use social websites