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Think your Facebook photos really go away when you hit delete? They didn’t until now. Here’s what used to happen to many photos: when a photo was deleted it disappeared from all profiles and albums, making it seem like it was really gone. But if a direct link to the photo was saved, by copying its URL, the photo was still easily accessible, in some cases up to three years after it was deleted. Facebook has now promised to delete photos from its servers no more than 30 days after a user deletes the photo from their profile. In other Facebook news, officials in Germany are investigating the company’s facial recognition technology for a second time. The data protection commissioner there is accusing Facebook of compiling huge databases of users’ photos without their consent, which he says goes against European law. Facebook disagrees, saying that their opt-out system is perfectly legal. Just another day in the slippery slope of online privacy.
About Shelly Palmer
Shelly Palmer is the Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with AI strategy, implementation and governance, as well as technology, media and marketing. Named one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices in Technology, he is a bestselling author, covers tech and business for Fox 5’s Good Day New York, is a regular commentator on CNN, and writes the popular daily business blog Think About This. Follow @shellypalmer or visit shellypalmer.com.