How much value will this lack of data and user numbers knock off facebook ?

$5Billion ?

$10Billion ?

Who knows ...im just guessing as well as the valuers of Facebook here ....

I am surprised that the ICO have dropped their investigation. While the information is no longer publicly visible, it is still retained by Facebook and made available to third parties through demographic analysis packages which Facebook sell (I was going to say 'make a profit from' then realised how wrong such a statement would be).

Facebook has a value?! I sure can't see it, monetary or otherwise...

(Veni, vidi, <cough> quitti)

When I closed by account, I wasn't entirely happy with the responses I got. As you can see here - http://www.freeinfidel.com/2008/02/22/facebook_goodbye/ - they never did really answer my questions about aggregated data. And their last reply talked of 'disabled' rather than 'deleted' accounts, though that could have been a mere slip of the keyboard.

"It's just a shame such a small concession to the people it is hoping to build its alleged business on took Facebook so long, really"

People like Zuckerberg (Sugar Mountain?) are narcissic - they feel that the world should conform to them and that anything they do is legitimate just because they do it. So, they just set up their operations based on the "If I do it it must be legal" approach - then get all upset when someone tells them they can't.

I'll bet when the ICO first approached him he would have thrown a "wobbly" where he asked "What the f**k do these jumped up bureaucrats think they're doing telling ME (the great I AM) what to do!". That's why it took so long.

Just declare him as an undesirable alien and make sure he never gets into the UK instead of lauding him as some kind of Web 2.0 hero (whatever Web 2.0 is???).

Or better still: ignore him, ignore Faceplook, get a life and maybe they'll vanish into oblivion.

CLOTHES, NEW, EMPEROR

This isn't the only one of these sites that is keeping data. StumbleUpon is another which you can't remove your data from.

Many of these social sites seem to both retain data long after you have requested its removal and stake a copyright claim to any content uploaded to them.

Isn`t there a little something called the 1998 Data Protection Act? However, I have had cause to try and invoke it in the past and it seems like it`s not worth the parchment it`s scratched on. There seems to be all all sorts of "get-out" clauses, including my favourite soap-box item as to why DVLC are allowed to sell information to so-called private parking enforcement companies. I`m no lawyer but I also understand that data should not be retained for any longer than is necessary, which may be an answer to those who find their details still on record, despite "deleting" their accounts.

I had my facebook account closed by there admin's for some reason. At first they accused me of impersonating an un-named someone else, they they changed there excuse to 'there being some unsuitable content on my profile or in a message I sent'.

This second point concerns me on two points,

1) they are probably reading my private messages

2) they refused to cite the alleged content (I asked for evidence)

Overall it looks as if they had a knee jerk reaction and disabled my account then couldn't come up with a reason after I challenged there initial reason, and they aren't willing to discuss this any further. So I've lost all the contacts and content from my profile now and left frustrated.

Of course they have disabled my account and not deleted it...