Facebook Opens To Developers, Adopts New User Terms

Wall Street Journal networking

Later today, Facebook is expected to announce that third parties will have access to data from the site that was previously unavailable. The announcement marks a change in strategy for Facebook, which had forced developers to work from within its framework -- thereby keeping information and users within the site.

The decision is the second in the past several days that Facebook has made in an attempt to broaden its appeal and solidify consensus among its members. On Friday, the site confirmed that users had voted on a new set of terms and conditions, which dictates that users will own and control their own information under the social networking site's new policies.

In February, Facebook came under fire when it launched a redesign and adopted a revised set of user terms and conditions. The change upset members and advocacy groups and made headlines on online news sites for several days before Facebook backed off and reverted to its original terms of service.

More than 665,000 users voted on the terms and conditions, with nearly 75 percent approving the new terms. In his blog on Facebook, general counsel Ted Ullyot noted that all future proposed changes to the principles and statement of rights and responsibilities will be subject to the notice, comment and voting provisions of the documents.