Facebook have made alterations to their Terms of Use which now states that anything you put onto the site at any point in time – they can do with as they please.
Previously, when you closed your account, any rights to your own content would expire – now it still all belongs to them. It means the site can legally sell your content or use them in advertising with no zero recompense to you.
You hereby grant Facebook an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to (a) use, copy, publish, stream, store, retain, publicly perform or display, transmit, scan, reformat, modify, edit, frame, translate, excerpt, adapt, create derivative works and distribute (through multiple tiers), any User Content you (i) Post on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof subject only to your privacy settings or (ii) enable a user to Post, including by offering a Share Link on your website and (b) to use your name, likeness and image for any purpose, including commercial or advertising, each of (a) and (b) on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof.
All of the above has not changed, however two lines following this paragraph have been removed:
You may remove your User Content from the Site at any time. If you choose to remove your User Content, the license granted above will automatically expire, however you acknowledge that the Company may retain archived copies of your User Content.
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In addition the social network has added:
The following sections will survive any termination of your use of the Facebook Service: Prohibited Conduct, User Content, Your Privacy Practices, Gift Credits, Ownership; Proprietary Rights, Licenses, Submissions, User Disputes; Complaints, Indemnity, General Disclaimers, Limitation on Liability, Termination and Changes to the Facebook Service, Arbitration, Governing Law; Venue and Jurisdiction and Other.
Essentially, do not upload anything that you wouldn’t be happy splashed across newspapers across the country. Do not upload anything which you wouldn’t be happy having used in some form of public advertisement or publication. If you plan on running for President, Prime Minster or any other public figure – get out and ban anyone from using your photo on there!
via Consumerist
**Update**
Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has written an official response on the matter. Details can be found here.
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