
You do not own your own content - ColinWright
From Facebook:<p>&gt; <i>Effective October 1, 2020, section 3.2 of our Terms of Service will be updated to include:</i><p>&gt;&gt; <i>“We also can remove or restrict access to your content, services or information if we determine that doing so is reasonably necessary to avoid or mitigate adverse legal or regulatory impacts to Facebook.”</i><p>So just a reminder, if you want access to your own data, keep an independent copy.<p>Extra note: A backup isn&#x27;t a backup unless you can restore from it.
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otterley
Attorney here! (Not legal advice, seek counsel if you need legal advice.)

You’re confusing ownership with distribution and possession. Ownership is
about the rights you have to exclude others from your work (i.e., copyright).
When you transfer a copy of your work to a third party such as Facebook, you
don’t grant them ownership or even an ownership interest. You’re just granting
them to right—-but not the obligation—-to republish and retransmit your work
to others.

Since it is a right and not an obligation, Facebook also has the right not to
store or republish your work if they desire. But you still own your content
and can otherwise do whatever you like with it.

Whether you keep a copy after you give it to a third party is your choice and
responsibility.

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kdtop
I love a clear explanation by someone knowledgeable. :-)

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mytailorisrich
You obviously do own your own content. But you usually do not own the platform
used to publish it.

I think that's the main distinction that is often overlooked and, indeed, what
makes having an independent copy very important.

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Nextgrid
As much as I hate Facebook, I don't see anything wrong or surprising here. It
seems reasonable to me that a service might wish to restrict/prevent access to
content when required by law or regulation.

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ColinWright
Did I say that's it's wrong and/or surprising? No, I did not. I'm saying that
you might not be able to access your own content, so keep your own copy of it.

You may not find it surprising that FB might suddenly make your content
inaccessible "for reasons", but many people do. Readers of HN might not be
among them, but some of their friends and family will.

So this is providing Chapter and Verse for HN people to quote to those who
_do_ find it surprising.

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srtjstjsj
It seems strange that anyone wood ever assume they control something held by
someone else with no contract in place and ToS they surely didn't read. Anyone
who thinks their free Facebook account is something like a bank safe deposit
box (which even still is short on guarantees) is... strange.

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ColinWright
Do you genuinely think people realise this? it's all so obvious to you ... and
to me ... and yet every time I talk to people about it, they are astonished
that they their content might be made inaccessible with no warning.

Try speaking to non-technical people, look at the stories of outrage that
circulate.

I suspect you're in a bubble. You know these things, and assume everyone else
does. I'm telling you that the majority of people I talk to _have no clue._

So this submission was giving people a precise reference to quote.

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dave_sid
I think someone just need to switch Facebook off.

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kazinator
That obviously refers to _public access_ (i.e. visibility) to the FB-hosted
copy of content that causes some kind of problem to FB.

No free hosting service guarantees reliable, enduring access to your own data.

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scruffyherder
Good thing I own my domain, use my own servers and pay for my address....

Otherwise I’m just putting my stuff on other people’s machines

