We are using Facebook indiscriminately adding friends and storing information. But, there are some legal issues we should know before we put our “life” on it. Do you know that your company could claim ownership to your Facebook profile?
According to Out-Law.com,
“If a social networking site is used to hold any information which relates to your employment, if that information is prepared in the course of your employment you are dealing with company property,” said Turner.
The profile, or the elements of it that are work related, would belong to the employer despite the fact that it was created and is hosted in a virtual environment primarily designed for personal interaction.
This is a scary scenario. You don’t want to invest all your time on your Facebook account only to get grabbed by your company (don’t they already do it with your work at the company?).
Andrew also points out to some of the non obvious issues in their terms and conditions, which you agree
- As with any company, their terms are subjected to change any time. So you don’t know what is in store in the future
- It seems Facebook is for personal use only. I seriously don’t understand why it is so
- You cannot use facebook for your company/organization. It is for single user only
- Disputes are arbitrated under Delaware law
- You are giving up copyright control of all your contents
- Like the Microsoft platform, the applications running on Facebook platform are not guaranteed to be safe
- Facebook owns any suggestion/complaint/ideas you submit to them
- Your privacy is not guaranteed
I strongly urge you to read these two articles before you invest your time in the Facebook. Some of the terms are typical of any website you sign up but few others are downright scary. It is vital that every Facebook user knows what is in store for them legally before they invest too much of their time inside Facebook.
Link thanks to Steve Reubal through Twitter and Chris Brogan of Grasshoppers
Tags: Facebook, Social Networks, Socialnetworking, Legal, Law
July 23rd, 2007 at 9:40 am
anyone hear about peekamo.com
July 23rd, 2007 at 10:40 am
anyone hear about peekamo.com
July 23rd, 2007 at 8:38 pm
That seems far fetched to me. What information could you put up on facebook about work (besides, obviously, releasing trade secrets or something of the sort) that would violate an agreement made with any run of the mill employment contract. The fact that you work at such-and-such is public information. I think the ruling offers employers the ability to cease accounts that could potentially contain useful/dangerous information, which was created on company time, on company computers. Only then can they claim ownership. For instance, the journalist in the article had his account taken because they proved he created it on company time/machines. The court only ruled in their favor because the contact lists he had were important to their work. Thus, most employees really have nothing to worry about. Unless there is a really good reason, they can’t force someone to give up an account, because technically they don’t own that account - facebook does.
July 23rd, 2007 at 8:39 pm
Thanks Krish, I’ve been finding more references to this as well. Kind of makes me want to just drop Facebook.
July 23rd, 2007 at 9:38 pm
That seems far fetched to me. What information could you put up on facebook about work (besides, obviously, releasing trade secrets or something of the sort) that would violate an agreement made with any run of the mill employment contract. The fact that you work at such-and-such is public information.
I think the ruling offers employers the ability to cease accounts that could potentially contain useful/dangerous information, which was created on company time, on company computers. Only then can they claim ownership. For instance, the journalist in the article had his account taken because they proved he created it on company time/machines. The court only ruled in their favor because the contact lists he had were important to their work.
Thus, most employees really have nothing to worry about. Unless there is a really good reason, they can’t force someone to give up an account, because technically they don’t own that account - facebook does.
July 23rd, 2007 at 9:39 pm
Thanks Krish, I’ve been finding more references to this as well. Kind of makes me want to just drop Facebook.
July 24th, 2007 at 5:30 am
[...] Some Facebook legal facts–Krishwords You are aware of some of Facebook’s more “interesting” legal quirks in its EULA… don’t you? (tags: web-2.0 web-services facebook legal eula) [...]
July 25th, 2007 at 9:03 am
Ryan, Employees could post anything related to the company as notes and add it to their profile. They could add information about an important meeting they are attending in their facebook status. If a company decides to screw up one of its employee, this offers them a chance to use anything he has done in facebook against the employee (and take over his/her profile).
July 25th, 2007 at 10:03 am
Ryan,
Employees could post anything related to the company as notes and add it to their profile. They could add information about an important meeting they are attending in their facebook status. If a company decides to screw up one of its employee, this offers them a chance to use anything he has done in facebook against the employee (and take over his/her profile).
July 25th, 2007 at 5:15 pm
Krish, I see where you are getting at now. I apologize for my response, it was late and I didn’t really process the information too carefully. I still think this could be overturned, if someone cared enough about their account, on the grounds that the user doesn’t actually own their account, thus the company has no right to take it from them. I hope someone does take that rout in the future so we aren’t worried about this with every job transfer.
July 25th, 2007 at 6:15 pm
Krish,
I see where you are getting at now. I apologize for my response, it was late and I didn’t really process the information too carefully. I still think this could be overturned, if someone cared enough about their account, on the grounds that the user doesn’t actually own their account, thus the company has no right to take it from them. I hope someone does take that rout in the future so we aren’t worried about this with every job transfer.
July 25th, 2007 at 7:03 pm
Quite possible. I am no legal expert. So I just quoted what I found in some legal websites.
July 25th, 2007 at 8:03 pm
Quite possible. I am no legal expert. So I just quoted what I found in some legal websites.
August 3rd, 2007 at 9:50 pm
As an employer of 50 people, I would not want any ownership of their facebook profile. Don’t you see anything ironic about your statement below regarding an employee working on their facebook account in COMPANY TIME: “This is a scary scenario. You don’t want to invest all your time on your Facebook account only to get grabbed by your company (don’t they already do it with your work at the company?).” I know a lot of my employees use facebook and I tolerate as long as it’s in moderation but when its an expectation that a company should fund all the time spent on facebook it seems to me that employees thinking like this should take a really good look at them selves. If you had to pay a lawyer for a days work and they spend 2 hours of that time booking their next holiday how would you feel about it? Imagine that multiplied by 200 times each year! I work hard to ensure my employees get a good salary for their work. Not all employers are assholes. I am beginning to understand why larger companies have so many rules and become so mercinary- because its human nature to get away with whatever you can and emloyees with your view (and lack of empathy) make it worse for others more honest. The answer is simple, don’t use facebook when you’re meant to be working - it’s dishonest. If you do, the employer deserves a right to take what you’ve created company time.
August 3rd, 2007 at 10:50 pm
As an employer of 50 people, I would not want any ownership of their facebook profile. Don’t you see anything ironic about your statement below regarding an employee working on their facebook account in COMPANY TIME:
“This is a scary scenario. You don’t want to invest all your time on your Facebook account only to get grabbed by your company (don’t they already do it with your work at the company?).”
I know a lot of my employees use facebook and I tolerate as long as it’s in moderation but when its an expectation that a company should fund all the time spent on facebook it seems to me that employees thinking like this should take a really good look at them selves. If you had to pay a lawyer for a days work and they spend 2 hours of that time booking their next holiday how would you feel about it? Imagine that multiplied by 200 times each year!
I work hard to ensure my employees get a good salary for their work. Not all employers are assholes. I am beginning to understand why larger companies have so many rules and become so mercinary- because its human nature to get away with whatever you can and emloyees with your view (and lack of empathy) make it worse for others more honest.
The answer is simple, don’t use facebook when you’re meant to be working - it’s dishonest. If you do, the employer deserves a right to take what you’ve created company time.