Facebook A Black Hole For Personal Info

Slashdot cites an article the New York Times ran earlier this week on how it is nearly impossible to get loose from Facebook. While the Facebook website offers the option of deactivating one's account, their servers keep copies of the information in those accounts indefinitely.

A number of users have contacted Facebook to complain when their requests to have their accounts deleted failed to erase their records from the network. One such unsuccessful user, director at a Manhattan biotechnology firm Nipon Das, says "It's like the Hotel California. You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave."

The subtle archiving of information from deactivated accounts has raised concerns about the network's potential abuse of private data, especially in the wake of Facebook's Beacon advertising debacle.

See the New York Times for the full article.