Scene 1. Facebook quietly changes its privacy policy to own all our information in perpetuity. Big Shock. (Not.)
Scene 2. Viral protest spreads.
Scene 3. Facebook recants and opens a communal conversation to allow stakeholders to voice their concerns.
So, what's wrong with this play?
1. FB's revised privacy and terms of service statement seemed to state that the company owned any content you posted. I don't think that that was FB's intention, but the clunky writing made that difficult to understand. Subsequent clarifications can be found at http://consumerist.com/5150175/facebooks-new-terms-of-service-we-can-do-anything-we-want-with-your-content-forever.
2. Protesters (not without reason) took the plain-text meaning and panicked that FB was claiming ownership of all their content, in perpetuity. On the other hand, the panicked response certainly got FB's attention!
3. What's ignored here is that "ownership" of information is a squishy concept. To own has three meanings: to have (possess), to be able to use, and to be able to alienate. Concepts of ownership work best with tangible objects. I have a book. I can read my book. I can sell my book or give it away. Some things I can use, but someone else has: I am allowed (by easements) to walk on a certain path, but I don't own that property. Some things I can have and use but I am not allowed to alienate: No ethical physician would remove my heart from my healthy body (killing me in the process) to give it to someone else. I can give away one kidney. I can't give away two.
Owning information is even more complex, however. I cannot both have my heart and give it away. I can, however, have information and give it away. I'm doing that right now with this blog. Legally, I still maintain copyright to the content, but if you learn anything here, it's yours to keep. (And, by the way, following Creative Commons procedures, I give anyone permission to copy the actual words of this blog as long as credit is given to me and as long as it is used only for noncommercial purposes.)
Even more importantly, if you learn something here, there is no way that I can force you to unlearn it.
So, if I own information:
* I have it, but once I share it I can no longer control who else has it.
* I can use it, but if I have shared it with you, you can use it too. (Depending on what it is, laws like copyright might prevent you from copying it.)
* I can give it away or sell it, but even if I give it away or sell it, I still have it and can use it.
To put this in jargon terms, information is not rivalrous. (You don't use up information when you use it.) If you share it, it is not excludable. (You can't really stop others who have access to your information from sharing that information. Don't believe me? Try telling someone a secret.)
Furthermore, we reasonably have expectations that communication taking place via some kinds of media is protected. If you send a letter in the mail or make a telephone call, the usual expectation is that neither the mail carrier nor the operator will intercept your message. (Patriot Act notwithstanding.) But FB is NOT a private medium of communication.
FB is cross between a billboard and a nosy neighbor. When you post something to FB, you broadcast -- to how many people depends on your privacy settings. But then, they can easily rebroadcast it (without your careful privacy settings) to anyone they want. Or to everyone. And FB keeps that information for its own commercial purposes. When you sign up, you give FB permission to do so -- it's how they stay in business.
No, FB should not use its customers' content without their consent for further distribution and money-making. Any information posted by customers who subsequently delete their accounts should not be circulated or used by FB after the deletion. But it's impossible to get all those FB friends and friends of friends to give up the information received from the now-deleted account.
In that way, content we share on FB is no different from information we share and then later regret having shared. Retrieving one's secrets and embarrassments is as impossible as catching the dandelion seeds carried in the breeze.
PS: More on this topic can be found in my book, Knowledge Power: Intellectual Property, Information, and Privacy, which is available from Lynne Rienner Publishers, at http://www.rienner.com
