Homeschooled minors banned from Facebook

[burnthebeautiful]

I was just about to register a Facebook account, and decided to skim through the Terms of Service, and found this in the first paragraph:

"This Site is intended solely for users who are thirteen (13) years of age or older, and users of the Site under 18 who are currently in high school or college. Any registration by, use of or access to the Site by anyone under 13, or by anyone who is under 18 and not in high school or college, is unauthorized, unlicensed and in violation of these Terms of Use. By using the Service or the Site, you represent and warrant that you are 13 or older and in high school or college, or else that you are 18 or older, and that you agree to and to abide by all of the terms and conditions of this Agreement."

So people under 18 are only allowed to register to the site if they're in high school or college. Home-schooled minors are not allowed. Anyone who is under 18 and no longer in school is also banned. If you graduate high-school while under 18 and decide not to go to college, you're banned from using the site until you turn 18.

Anyone have any idea why Facebook would have this in their Terms of Service? Is it some politically correct thing where they want to "punish" people for not getting a high-school education?

[Braddogg]

My guess is that it has to do with their ever-expanding demographic.  Facebook was originally only for students at elite colleges, then they opened it up to all college students, then anyone over 18, and then high school students (and, I guess now, middle school students).  Maybe it has to do with child predators -- making sure that a pervert isn't putting himself out there as a 15-year-old when he's really 45.  Of course, I'm not sure what sort of methods they have for confirming that someone who says they go to a Manchester high school actually goes.  It still might be a liability thing.  Maybe you could send an e-mail to Facebook and ask?

[Fluff and Stuff]

Anyone have any idea why Facebook would have this in their Terms of Service?

It is an small move designed to help keep the government off their back.  While I don't agree with it, Facebook is a private group and it is not that horrible an idea in modern American culture. 

[Dave Ridley]

if you're homeschooled and 15 i think you're considered to be in hi school....and who's going to stop you from registering anyway?

[Fluff and Stuff]

if you're homeschooled and 15 i think you're considered to be in hi school....and who's going to stop you from registering anyway?

I'm 100% sure you can get around it, just lie about your age or school.  It is just Facebook trying to cover their butt.

[Henry]

You get points for having actually read facebook's terms.

If you like scary movies then you'll love this short flash presentation about facebook and their terms of service, among other more important facebook issues. http://albumoftheday.com/facebook/

[KBCraig]

If you like scary movies then you'll love this short flash presentation about facebook and their terms of service, among other more important facebook issues. http://albumoftheday.com/facebook/

WOW!

I wonder how they square those contractual licensing terms, with the fact that 13-18 year olds generally can't enter into enforceable contracts?

[error]

Facebook can and does share all your personal information, that you thought was private, with state and federal government agencies -- not just law enforcement, but almost any bureaucrat who asks -- upon request. Without warrants, orders, subpoenas, or anything. If you value your privacy at all, Facebook is not the place to be. Hell, Myspace is better, though not much.

[Henry]

Facebook can and does share all your personal information, that you thought was private, with state and federal government agencies -- not just law enforcement, but almost any bureaucrat who asks -- upon request. Without warrants, orders, subpoenas, or anything. If you value your privacy at all, Facebook is not the place to be. Hell, Myspace is better, though not much.

Exactly. If fascism is the joining of state and big business, Facebook and the like can best be understand as HUGE Pentagon spying and data mining mechanisms. It's military, basically. It's not legally "spying," because we are volunteering all of our personal information when we sign up. It's public knowledge that google was also partly funded with CIA money, and they've recently moved into a NASA building here in California. Think of every video comment, gmail, posting, search, and everything else you might have done while logged in to google. Looking at all of that at once would enable anyone to know A LOT about you, your politics, how you think, everything. Visit your igoogle section and check out your own online history if you haven't already.