2008 Woodie Awards
Facebook responds to user outrage
By Katherine Smalley
Issue date: 2/21/08 Section: Culture
Creating a Facebook account to share photographs and keep up with friends can turn into a bigger commitment than expected.
Those who decide they no longer want to be part of the online social networking trend may find deleting their account to be quite a challenge.
Facebook offers the option of "deactivating" an account by simply clicking a link under the user's account settings.
People who deactivate their account and then decide to return to Facebook will find their former account waiting for them when they reenter their e-mail address.
According to a statement in Facebook's privacy policy, "Removed information may persist in backup copies for a reasonable period of time but will not be generally available to members of Facebook."
Again, in the site's terms of use, users are warned that "the Company may retain archived copies of your User Content" even after information is removed from an account. This archiving of personal information has caused concern among some users.
Magnus Wallin, a 26-year-old patent examiner from Sweden, started a Facebook group, called "How to permanently delete your Facebook account," that offers tips on how to completely erase an account.
"I found it strange and annoying that Facebook saves your information without your explicit approval," he said in a Facebook message.
Wallin created the group in October of 2007, and it has steadily gained members ever since.
A recent article in The New York Times discussed the difficulties of leaving Facebook and referenced Wallin's group, resulting in a huge increase in the group's numbers.
There were 4,300 members when the article was printed on Feb. 11, and the group now has more than 11,000 members.
Wallin said he found information about how to leave Facebook in a blog post from a former Facebook user in Canada, and a link to the post is provided on the group's page.
"I thought it was important that the information was available inside Facebook, for people actually wanting to leave," Wallin said.
Facebook staff have responded to the growing concern in recent days by changing their privacy policy. Users will now find instructions for deleting an account by selecting the "privacy and security" link under the "help" tab on their Facebook home page. The updated information distinguishes between deactivating an account and permanently deleting it.
It explains that the deactivation option is intended for user convenience: "Many users deactivate their accounts for temporary reasons and expect their information to be there when they return to the service."
Monika Groppe, a freshman from Germantown, Tenn., said users should be aware that anything they put on Facebook may be saved on the Internet indefinitely.
"I mean, it's to be expected," she said. "There's risk in putting anything on the Internet. You should look into it before you do that."
Those who decide they no longer want to be part of the online social networking trend may find deleting their account to be quite a challenge.
Facebook offers the option of "deactivating" an account by simply clicking a link under the user's account settings.
People who deactivate their account and then decide to return to Facebook will find their former account waiting for them when they reenter their e-mail address.
According to a statement in Facebook's privacy policy, "Removed information may persist in backup copies for a reasonable period of time but will not be generally available to members of Facebook."
Again, in the site's terms of use, users are warned that "the Company may retain archived copies of your User Content" even after information is removed from an account. This archiving of personal information has caused concern among some users.
Magnus Wallin, a 26-year-old patent examiner from Sweden, started a Facebook group, called "How to permanently delete your Facebook account," that offers tips on how to completely erase an account.
"I found it strange and annoying that Facebook saves your information without your explicit approval," he said in a Facebook message.
Wallin created the group in October of 2007, and it has steadily gained members ever since.
A recent article in The New York Times discussed the difficulties of leaving Facebook and referenced Wallin's group, resulting in a huge increase in the group's numbers.
There were 4,300 members when the article was printed on Feb. 11, and the group now has more than 11,000 members.
Wallin said he found information about how to leave Facebook in a blog post from a former Facebook user in Canada, and a link to the post is provided on the group's page.
"I thought it was important that the information was available inside Facebook, for people actually wanting to leave," Wallin said.
Facebook staff have responded to the growing concern in recent days by changing their privacy policy. Users will now find instructions for deleting an account by selecting the "privacy and security" link under the "help" tab on their Facebook home page. The updated information distinguishes between deactivating an account and permanently deleting it.
It explains that the deactivation option is intended for user convenience: "Many users deactivate their accounts for temporary reasons and expect their information to be there when they return to the service."
Monika Groppe, a freshman from Germantown, Tenn., said users should be aware that anything they put on Facebook may be saved on the Internet indefinitely.
"I mean, it's to be expected," she said. "There's risk in putting anything on the Internet. You should look into it before you do that."
