Facebook users to vote on terms of use

FROM TOMORROW, more than 400,000 Irish users of the social networking site Facebook will have the chance to vote on the company’s revised terms of use.

The week-long poll follows controversial changes to the website’s policies in February, which among other things gave Facebook the right to use photos, personal information, posts and content created by some 200 million users even after they closed their accounts.

The company quickly reversed the policy after a backlash by users over breach of privacy and the threat of a formal legal complaint by a US privacy advocate group.

The final documents, which users will get to vote for or against, will be published when voting begins tomorrow.

The new terms of use are expected to ensure that the use of people’s content by Facebook has clear limits, according to posts on the website’s consultation pages.

However, it also seems that Facebook will retain some rights to use and distribute user content such as photos and videos of existing users.

The vote comes after a 30-day consultancy period open to some 200 million members. However, in order for the vote to be binding, one-third of active Facebook users are required to vote. Otherwise the vote will simply be “advisory”.

The number of Facebook users in Ireland has doubled over the last year to more than 400,000, according to research published by Mulley Communications in January.