Confronted with massive protests from tens of thousands of users, the popular networking site Facebook has backtracked on its recently introduced user policy which allows it to retain data even after an account has been deleted or cancelled.

The site, which boasts 175 million users from around the world, had quietly updated its terms of use a couple of weeks ago, causing uproar. Facebook has now reassured its users that it will revert to the old terms, at least for the time being. On Wednesday morning, users who logged on to Facebook were greeted by a message saying that the site is reverting to its previous terms of use while it resolves the issues raised by the protesters.

Avoiding the legal jargon that may have led to confusion, the Facebook message said that it "doesn't claim rights to any of your photos or other content. We need a license in order to help you share information with your friends, but we don't claim to own your information".

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's founder, told users in a blog post Monday that "on Facebook, people own their information and control who they share it with". Zuckerberg, who started Facebook while still in college, also acknowledged that a "lot of the language in our terms is overly formal and protective of the rights we need to provide this service to you".

But this wasn't enough to quell user protests, so the site created a group called "Facebook bill of rights and responsibilities," designed to let users give input on Facebook's terms of use. It also apologized for what it called "the confusion around these issues".

"We never intended to claim ownership over people's content even though that's what it seems like to many people," read a post from Facebook on the bill of rights page.

The latest controversy was not the first between the rapidly growing site and its users over its five-year history. In late 2007, a tracking tool called "Beacon" caught users off-guard by broadcasting information about their shopping habits and activities at other websites. After initially defending the practice, Facebook ultimately allowed users to turn Beacon off. 

Originally defending the changes, Zuckerberg had said it was to better reflect how people used the site. He had said the changes were made to ensure that if a user deleted his or her account any comments or messages he or she had left on a friend's Facebook page would not also disappear. 

In his later blog entry, Zuckerberg said, "The past couple of days, we received a lot of questions and comments about the changes and what they mean for people and their information. Based on this feedback, we have decided to return to our previous terms of use while we resolve the issues that people have raised."

He added: "Our next version will be a substantial revision from where we are now. It will reflect the principles I described yesterday around how people share and control their information, and it will be written clearly in language everyone can understand." 

The Palo Alto, California-based Facebook is privately held. Microsoft Corp bought a 1.6 per cent stake in the company in 2007 for $240 million as part of a broader advertising partnership.

The row and reaction to the Facebook changes to its terms of service reflect a wider issue about user data and who owns the personal information - from comments, to photos and videos - stored on social network accounts, and what happens to it if a user decides to leave a service. 

In the US, the public interest group Electronic Privacy Information Center had warned it would file a formal complaint with the Federal Trade Commission about the new terms of service.