Facebook uprising after changes to terms of service

New changes to social networking site Facebook’s terms of service have prompted an uprising from nearly 20,000 angry users protesting the new fine print.

The new changes affect the contact agreed to between users and the site when signing up for a new account. The contract allows Facebook to have full control of users’ social networking content, including the rights to copy, modify, translate and distribute any information and use images and descriptions for any purpose – including advertising.

Previously the control ended when users terminate their account, but the new changes now allow Facebook to keep them forever. But founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg posted on a blog entry that the site would never use information against a user’s will.  

“We wouldn’t share your information in a way you wouldn’t want,” he said  “When a person shares something like a message with a friend, two copies of that information are created – one in the person’s sent messages box and the other in their friend’s inbox.”

But Facebook groups such as People Against the New Terms of Service, which already has 16,427 members, argue Facebook should clarify this statement in the new terms.

But it doesn’t look good – a British spokesperson for Facebook says it is unlikely the language in the terms and conditions will be amended.