Over 3 years later, "deleted" Facebook photos are still online

[n2doc]

By Jacqui Cheng


Facebook is still working on deleting photos from its servers in a timely manner nearly three years after Ars first brought attention to the topic. The company admitted on Friday that its older systems for storing uploaded content "did not always delete images from content delivery networks in a reasonable period of time even though they were immediately removed from the site," but said it's currently finishing up a newer system that makes the process much quicker. In the meantime, photos that users thought they "deleted" from the social network months or even years ago remain accessible via direct link.

The problem: "deleted" photos never go away

When we first investigated this phenomenon in 2009, we discovered that photos "deleted" from Facebook seemingly never go away if you have a direct link to the image file on Facebook's servers. Users who might have had second thoughts about posting a photo—whether it was because they didn't want retaliation from an employer, wanted to avoid family drama, or uploaded a photo of a friend without their permission—could certainly remove the image from Facebook's main user interface, but as long as someone had a direct link to the .jpg file in question, the photo would remain accessible for an indefinite amount of time. When we asked Facebook about it, we were told that the company was "working with our content delivery network (CDN) partner to significantly reduce the amount of time that backup copies persist."

But when we followed up on the story more than a year later, our "deleted" photos were still accessible via direct link. That's when the reader stories started pouring in: we were told horror stories about online harassment using photos that were allegedly deleted years ago, and users who were asked to take down photos of friends that they had put online.

There were plenty of stories in between as well, and panicked Facebook users continue to e-mail me, asking if we have heard of any new way to ensure that their deleted photos are, well, deleted. For example, one reader linked me to a photo that a friend of his had posted of his toddler crawling naked on the lawn. He asked his friend to take it down for obvious reasons, and so the friend did—in May of 2008. As of this writing in 2012, I have personally confirmed that the photo is still online, as are several others that readers linked me to that were deleted at various points in 2009 and 2010.

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http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2012/02/nearly-3-years-later-deleted-facebook-photos-are-still-online.ars

[SwissTony]

1. It seems to me that the problem is that Facebook/Google/Twitter can't take these photos down

because the sites they are on don't belong to them. Representatives from all three companies companies recently appeared before the Leveson inquiry and the UK parliamentary inquiry on privacy. Google for example can only remove the offending site from their search list. But the link will still be available via direct link and can be passed on via email etc. Google can't do much about that. They could possibly implement an elimination by algorithm, but they feel that many innocent sites would also be removed.

It should also be stated that none of these companies actually posted the original photos. The Max Moseley photos were posted by the NotW while the sexy pictures of individuals were posted by the individuals themselves or their (possibly disgruntled) friend/ex-friend.

[n2doc]

2. Wait a minute. these photos were posted ON facebook servers Using Facebook

What company is actually 'hosting' these images? If they are linking to another host, yes I can see how that host would really be the one to deal with. But if the files are on facebook servers, then facebook is the problem.

[SwissTony]

3. I confess my ignorance on Facebook and Twitter because I don't use either.

But I suspect the problem remains in that people can copy an image on Facebook and later repost it on Facebook or on another site.

But I stand corrected. Thank you.