3% of Facebook Users Would Agree to the Terms of Use if they Read or Understand them

A majority of Facebook users evidently have no idea what they consented to when they registered to use the social ­network, according to a new study conducted by the University of Vienna.

The study presented 1,019 participants with various ­clauses from the social ­network's terms of service, including its "real name" policy, the unpaid use of users' names and profile pictures in its ads, and the analysis of personal data for studies and product development.

The results showed that 99% of the study's participants did not know they had given their consent to all of the passages at hand.

Moreover, only 3% said that they would agree to all of the clauses in Facebook's terms and conditions if given the choice.

 The study concludes that there there can be no talk of informed consent on the part of Facebook users; on the ­contrary, the results show that the current legal environment is a gateway for the ­commercialisation of personal data - not just with Facebook, but generally as well. — dpa