If you’ve always been keeping up-to-date with the latest on the Internet, you’ve probably heard of the little blooper FaceBook created for itself and then tried to set right. FaceBook, the social networking site which everyone seems to be addicted to, removed a clause from it’s user agreement which said user’s could remove content they posted any time they wished. Further, it added new language which said that FaceBook would retain account information once an account was deleted. For those of us who believed that we are in full control of our profiles on the Internet, the bubble had burst. However, users of FaceBook enraged at this change formed groups, forums and FaceBook, bowing to the pressure, revised its terms and conditions again.
Although in this case, many users will heave a sigh of relief, are we really sure of how safe we are and what is in our control on a social networking site? When FaceBook made the changes, or rather, “updated†its terms and conditions, it sent all its users a message to that effect. Now we all know how legal jargon can sound mind-numbingly confusing and boring. Therefore it was not until Consumerist, a blog of the Consumer Union interpreted exactly what these changes implied that users knew exactly what was happening. However, in the absence of such a blog post coming to our rescue, how many of us really read the Terms & Conditions of all the sites we sign up for? And how much privacy do we expect in on a social networking site where we voluntarily put up so much information about ourselves?
For all those parents whose children are ‘poking’, ‘pinging’, ‘slapping’ or ‘writing on someone’s wall’ all the time, it would make good sense to encourage your kids to read the terms and conditions. And if you have a profile, you better do it too. Better yet, read the terms with your kids so that they understand how cleverly at times, websites can wrap potential warnings in very flowery language and make you think that this is as safe and as simple as 123; well, it’s not. For a classic example of the FaceBook incident, visit the link to the Consumerist blog which clarifies what FaceBook writes and means and also shares interesting replies from users of FaceBook http://consumerist.com/5150175/FaceBooks-new-terms-of-service-we-can-do-anything-we-want-with-your-content-forever
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