My Facebook Access… [Expose]

Kyle Brady — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 05:26:32 +0000

[Note: This has all changed... see the bottom for the updates and final result.]

Just so everyone is aware, I'm currently banned from Facebook.

My account still exists but they pretend it doesn't, and have disabled anyone from viewing anything associated with me.

Why? Because I made a small error in posting something jokingly to a friend, and they freaked out. I didn't receive a "we took it down, don't do it again warning", just a flat out ban. I apparently violated their TOS, but was never notified of doing so, just received a ban.

This would make sense if I was a repeat offender. However, I'm very good about what I do and do not put on Facebook, so this is my first offense.

And yet they banned me.

I have an email in to their "disabled@facebook.com" address:

I noticed my account is disabled, and I can probably imagine why... in hindsight, not the best choice.

However, this was the first time I've violated the TOS or anything even approaching doing so. Based on this, can my account be reactivated, with a promise to not do so again in the future?

Thanks

And received this reply:

Hi,

The Facebook Team has received your inquiry. We should get back to you soon. In the meantime, we encourage you to review our Help page (http://www.facebook.com/help.php). There, you'll find answers to many common questions.

Thanks for contacting Facebook,

The Facebook Team

That was received at 10am this morning (4/29/2009), and I've yet to receive any sort of tangible response or otherwise communication.

You'd think that a big supporter and user of their products would be given a second chance, wouldn't you? And it's not like I committed any terrible sins, just something slightly off-color.

Maybe they're right about the way Zuckerberg runs his company... irrational and juvenile. I hope not, but if I don't get re-enabled then I'm likely to believe it, based on my specific case.

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Updates:

4/30/2009 12:30am PST: I'm now soliciting help from people who have Facebook contacts, or actual employees of Facebook. Email me if you can help.

4/30/2009 9:00am PST: The Facebook "ops team" has been made aware of my situation, thanks to some certain people! ;-)

4/30/2009 9:30am PST: I'm back in the 'book! Here's what they had to say:

Hi Kyle,

Photo content that you uploaded has been removed for violating Facebook's Terms of Use. Photos containing nudity or other graphic or sexually suggestive content are not allowed. Unfortunately, for technical reasons, we are unable to provide further information about the removed content.

However, after reviewing your situation, we have reactivated your account, and you should now be able to log in. In order to prevent this from happening in the future, please refrain from posting photos of this kind and remove any that still exist on the site. For more information on conduct prohibited by Facebook, please read our Terms of Use, which can be accessed by clicking on the "Terms" link at the bottom of any Facebook page.

Thanks for your understanding,

Cassidy
User Operations
Facebook

Facebook Re-Design FAIL [Expose]

Kyle Brady — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 21:02:07 +0000

If you haven't heard or noticed by now, Facebook is in the process (or is finished?) rolling out a redesign of ... pretty much everything. Check out www.new.facebook.com to activate it. But I'm not here to analyze it like everyone else, even though I think it's a pretty cool update.

I'm here because they screwed up.

I've been keeping an eye on the "applications" page, because I had a feeling that something was going to happen... and it did.

Click, because it's relevant.

See all the things I've circled in red? Most of those are applications I've never added. Ever. And in the case of "Bumper Sticker", "friendbinder", and "Top Friends"... those are ones that were added and removed (before the design change) within a 24 hour period.

My first question is: what the hell?

Is Facebook just randomly letting applications access my data, and decide that I'm now a "user" of them? Because, if so, that's not only stupid and wasting my time... but it's also a huge privacy concern.

My second question is: what the hell?

I've tried to remove ALL of the ones that I circled in the screenshot... they won't go away. They disappear from my profile, and from some of the settings pages... but remain on others. Which would lead me to believe they're not really gone, they're just pretending to be.

My third question is: what the hell?

There have long been rumors that Facebook doesn't actually delete any data, they just "delete" it. Instead of removal, a field is changed to tell the rendering engine "Hey! Don't show this!" - which might make sense in some cases, but not as an overall policy.

This is solid proof that they do exactly what people have been whispering about... besides the whole "delete my account" controversy, of course.

My fourth question is: what the hell?

I'm actually out of "Items for Hell" at this point.

Your Mission

This needs to be fixed immediately. Check your applications page, see if you've got anything weird going on. Send them feedback (using the "send feedback" button... obviously), regardless of whether or not you have this problem... they need to know that many people care about this, and it's kind of a big deal.

p.s. Yes, I'm still using Vista on this computer. But that's because I haven't gotten Ubuntu running yet... the RAID-1 array and the supersexy, but "too new", combo optical drive are creating major problems.

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Update (7/28/2008 2:30pm PST): SitePoint blogger Josh Catone (formerly of RW/W) picked this up, and wrote his own take on it.

Kyle Brady: Blog » Facebook

My Facebook Access… [Expose]

Facebook Re-Design FAIL [Expose]