Here's what you need to know about Facebook's updated Terms Of Service
Be honest, how often does anyone actually read through terms and conditions online before clicking ‘agree’?
Yeah… we’re all guilty of that.
And while, usually, there’s never any bother, the internet has been abuzz the last few days as details of Facebook’s update to their Terms of Service (TOS) emerge.
So what’s the fuss?
Most of the concern stems from their updated data policy. From January 1st, 2015, Facebook will track you 24/7 on all your devices - smartphone, tablet, computer - by using your IP address, GPS, wi-fi and Bluetooth.
The purpose of this is, of course, to make money by selling more advertising. As a privacy lawyer told Vice magazine, “every bit of personal information is a valuable data point that the company can exploit, and Facebook gathers users' details so that they can sell more advertising at higher rates as, through this, they can truthfully claim to be able to better target their ads.”
Facebook says they will keep this data “until it is no longer useful to provide you services, like keeping your GPS coordinates to send you relevant notifications.”
So as long as they like.
So what are your options?
As of January 1st, 2015, all users will agree to these new TOS by simply continuing to use Facebook. If you don’t like it, all you can do is deactivate your account or go the longer route and contact Facebook to delete your account entirely.
