I can never be the president of the United States. For starters, there’s the fact that I have not taken one political science class here at UCLA, or the minor concern that I don’t have any desire to hold public office. But mainly, I cannot be president because there are too many incriminating pictures of me on Facebook.
On Feb. 4, Facebook changed its terms of service. Many of us students (myself included) habitually clicked past the notice of the new terms without ever reading them. However, the changes sparked protest from a few astute readers and shed light on the issue of Facebook’s right to user content. Despite the small uproar, the majority of us kept using Facebook without concern.
Facebook, at its core, is a popular and convenient medium of social networking and information sharing. We use it as a forum for sending important messages, and it houses more pictures than the walls of a dorm room ever could. It is an easily accepted and unprecedented compilation of our personal statistics, recorded communication with others, and visual documentation of our lives. And somehow we don’t find this frightening.
According to The New York Times, the updated terms of service included the deletion of a provision that said users could remove their content at any time when Facebook’s license to the material would expire, and added new language that said Facebook would “retain users’ content and licenses after an account was terminated.”
In his official Facebook blog, Mark Zuckerman, the creator of Facebook, attempted to assuage the concerns of users.
He explained that the terms of service changes were meant to clarify how Facebook works. For example, when one sends a message to a friend, two copies are created ““ one for you and one for your friend. By signing the terms of service, you grant Facebook the right to share this message with the friend you sent it to. Your friend still has a copy even if you deactivate your account.
As for addressing the question of whether or not Facebook has your information forever ““ thus crowning themselves master blackmailer of the planet ““ Zuckerman’s answer was vague: “In reality, we wouldn’t share your information in a way you wouldn’t want. The trust you place in us as a safe place to share information is the most important part of what makes Facebook work.”
Facebook isn’t a personal friend of mine. It is a company. All aspects of my relationship with them should be mapped out in the formal terms of service. I shouldn’t have to place my trust in the mysterious power that is the Facebook corporation.
However, my complaints are casual and fleeting. My dad has been telling me since day one to be careful about what is on Facebook because content on the Internet permanently stays there. I gave him the obligatory, “Yeah, yeah Dad,” but never gave it a second thought. Even with the recent terms of service scandal, my naive, unbridled Facebook usage is justified with a “Well, everyone else is doing it” mentality.
Most students think the same way. Sheva Miran, a third-year English student, said privacy does not cross her mind when she goes on Facebook. “Facebook and other social networks are a break from the orderly and rule-oriented day-to-day. We just want to see who wrote on our wall and poke people,” Miran said.
She and I both agreed we are banking on the fact that other people have more incriminating stuff on their pages than we do.
Bobby Shim, a second-year psychobiology student, said he is conservative with his Facebook, but only because people in his professional work environment could potentially see his page. Facebook’s overall access to the material was not his main concern.
In another Facebook blog Zuckerman wrote: “More than 175 million people use Facebook. If it were a country, it would be the sixth most populated country in the world. Our terms aren’t just a document that protect our rights; it’s the governing document for how the service is used by everyone across the world.”
Of all those people, only a little more than 200 users have joined the “Facebook Users Against Facebook New Terms of Service” group. I spoke to 10 of my peers, only one of whom had any clue what I was talking about when I said Facebook had changed its terms of service.
Facebook could probably make us all agree to jump off a bridge, and only a small percentage of people would notice.
In light of the complaints and concerns, Facebook representatives recently announced they would be going back to the original terms of service for now. The blog stated they are working on a new, revised terms of service agreement. But I think I speak for most UCLA students when I say I am far too busy checking my notifications and most likely won’t read it.
If Facebook is, as Zuckerman pointed out, analogous to a country with me as one of its citizens, it’s fair to say I blindly trust our dictator. And most students do. It’s a creepy concept. But whatever. I’m going to tag pictures from Saturday when I get home.
If your cute tagged pictures are more important than your privacy, e-mail Alyssa at abricklin@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.