> Effective October 1, 2020, section 3.2 of our Terms of Service will be updated to include:
>> “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.”
So just a reminder, if you want access to your own data, keep an independent copy.
Extra note: A backup isn't a backup unless you can restore from it.
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.
I think that's the main distinction that is often overlooked and, indeed, what makes having an independent copy very important.
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.
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.
No free hosting service guarantees reliable, enduring access to your own data.
Otherwise I’m just putting my stuff on other people’s machines