The social-networking Web site Facebook decided to roll back its terms of use after its users protested.
As I understand it, Facebook removed a clause stating that users could remove their content at any time. Many users want to ensure that if they decide to leave the site, Facebook would delete all the information pertaining to the user.
That sounds fair enough, but I’m concerned about losing comments from friends who at some point decide to leave the Web site. If they opt to delete their profiles, does that include the comments that they left for their friends?
According to BBC News, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said the terms were changed to recognize that a deleted user’s comments and messages to others would remain.
“We think this is the right way for Facebook to work, and it is consistent with how other services like email work. One of the reasons we updated our terms was to make this more clear.” — Mark Zuckerberg
I look at Facebook as a chronicle for the lives of my friends and myself. I wouldn’t want the loss of people’s thoughts that they left for me and others. I guess it’s a good reminder to save early and save often if there are memories you want to keep.
UPDATE: There’s some more details and commentary from the BBC’s dot.life blog.