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In 2009, Ars Technica discovered that an alarmingly high number of deleted Facebook photos were never actually deleted. Now, more than a year later, it appears that the social network has yet to fix the problem.When Ars Technica's Jacqui Cheng first contacted Facebook representatives about the issue, they told her that any deleted photos were inaccessible to other users, even if they still exist on the site's server. As Cheng points out, however, this isn't entirely true, since a direct image link will still provide access to a deleted photo, like this pic that Cheng originally 'deleted' on May 21st, 2009. At the time, Facebook reassured Cheng that it was working with its content delivery network (CDN) partner to "significantly reduce the amount of time that backup copies persist." As of yesterday though, neither Facebook nor its CDN had yet to delete the image. (We are presently unable to confirm this, as we couldn't get the image to load this morning.)
When Cheng contacted Facebook this week to inquire about her undeleted deleted photo, she received essentially the same response as she did 16 months ago. "For all practical purposes, the photo no longer exists, and we wouldn't be able find it if we were asked or even compelled to do so," Facebook spokesperson Simon Axten wrote, via e-mail. "This is similar to what happens when you delete information from the hard drive of your computer." This time, however, the social network acknowledged that some deleted photos are indeed accessible to other users who saved the photo's original URL, but, once again, insisted that it's "working with the CDN to reduce the amount of time that the photo remains in its cache."
It appears, then, that we'll all have to wait for Facebook to get around to solving this issue, if it ever does. In the meantime, though, it's probably a good idea to refrain from uploading any embarrassing photos in the first place.
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Comments
9
Subscribe to commentsDonOct 12th 2010 7:02PM
Obviously taking care of this little glitch is not high on the priority list of the social networking giant. And unless they have taken specific measures against it, these pictures are possibly still be indexed by search engines, etc. Just another page in their rather sketchy privacy book. Don. http://www.viewcaster.net/
useyourbrainOct 12th 2010 9:10PM
If Cheng hadn't been dumb enough to post such a ridiculous photo to Facebook in the first place, she wouldn't be having this problem, now would she? Whatever happened to taking responsibility for personal actions?
BillOct 13th 2010 3:02AM
@(Unverified) What may have seemed funny yesterday is not funny tomorrow. Husbands and Wives, Boyfriends and Girlfriends change constantly. Maybe you want to delete the baseball picture and post a football picture in season. Lots and lots of legitimate reason for wanting a picture deleted besides one that should have never seen the light of day. But more to the point is that it is possible to pretty much instantly post a picture. Why should it take so much longer to delete it? But with all the adverse publicity going on I do have to wander why anyone would fool with facebook anyway.
LitaOct 13th 2010 5:22AM
@(Unverified) You are the dumb one. This has nothing to do with the content of photos loaded. It has to do with being able to delete what you put on facebook--it could be photos of an ex, or removal of, say, a friend of your caliber. If it is presented as "delete," then it is false advertising and they should be held accountable. They are being deceptive; either they make good on the deal or, after you click to post a photo, there should be an acknowledgement screen that says, "Uploaded photos cannot be deleted." This is called operating above board. This is yet another example of why this social networking BS is something that we should steer clear of. (Zuckerberg once said that information is money. This shows what kind of character he has. It would seem that he would sell his grandmother for a buck.)
AnonymousOct 12th 2010 9:22PM
If you understand the actual process behind uploading photos to a website, this isn't that surprising. Picture it this way: you have two lists next to each other - a list of everything on Facebook, and a list of things that you want to put on Facebook. When you upload your list to Facebook, it's officially stored on their list (their server). Even if you delete the list on your side, you don't have access to Facebook's list to delete what you uploaded. While they should go through and scrub the data they know has been deleted from a user's side, it's not surprising to hear at all. They should take a more active stance on this policy for sure, but in the meantime, don't forget that everything you upload is always stored somewhere and the chances of it not being deleted are higher than of it actually disappearing forever like you hoped.
steves1709Oct 12th 2010 10:30PM
Lemme see here... nothing online is truly secure, right? Who would be so stupid to post private photos on a social networking site? If you want your friends to see a picture, send 'em an email!! BTW I didn't know anyone over 20 years old was still using Facebook et. al.
RobertOct 13th 2010 12:59PM
Of course the photos have not been deleted. There is probably some fine print there somewhere that says thay control the photos and have rights to them for allowing the use of the system. In a few years Mark Z. will be a multi-billionaire as he heads up the largest Stock Photo agency in the Universe!!!
facebook friendOct 12th 2010 11:41PM
I also have noticed that photos deleted from facebook are not really gone. I recently deleted some profile photos from facebook that later appeared in the facebook 'ads' on the right hand side of the window. Just remember, you're posting to THEIR website that they OWN and reserve the rights to use the content...but then I'm no lawyer.
JustinOct 18th 2010 3:54PM
It probably isn't that they want to keep your photos, I'm sure they would be more than happy to free up space for other peoples photos, it's a hardware and software issue, as they stated.