Facebook backtracks. Loses face.

After 48 hours of intense user pressure Facebook has caved in and reverted back to its old terms. These, remember, still allow the company to hold on to your data, while their latest terms, had threatened to keep the rights to sell, re-publish and generally profit from your content forever - even if you deleted your account.

Given how many students and adults use Facebook (185 million at the last count) this had posed a real compromise of privacy, in ways that might not have become apparent to subscribers until years after content had been uploaded and profiles seemingly deleted.

Yesterday, the founder of the company, Mark Zuckerberg, tried to claim the change in terms of service were intended to ensure wall postings and the like remained online, even after the poster's account was deleted. What a load of tosh. It's quite clear Facebook was hoping it could slip in this important alteration and not be rumbled.

Now, Zuckerberg has been forced to climb down, at least for the time being.

What's my take on this? Remain cautious on what you post to Facebook and other sites like it. 

The Face behind the Book

Given how powerful Facebook has become it's strange that every interview I read with Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of the world's biggest social networking site, seems rather bland. 

Maybe it's the increasing presence of PR minders, sent to preserve the corporate brand image, or perhaps the guy is genuinely introverted in a techno-geek way, but he manages to give little away about his passion or vision, either when reflecting about the past or looking forward to the future.

Nonetheless, if it's titbits you're after then here's the latest offering, which has appeared in the Guardian.