Facebook has withdrawn its revised terms of service after many user complaints.

Controversial changes made to Facebook’s terms of service have been withdrawn after negative feedback from users.

In a post made on the Facebook blog yesterday (17 February), Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of the social networking site, said the website will return to its previous terms of service regarding user data.

Mr Zuckerberg said: “Over 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.”

Users had complained about the new terms of service which appeared to grant Facebook the right to control and use personal data even after a user profile had been deleted.

Posters feared that the new terms would give Facebook the right to use personal photographs, messages and other data for marketing or advertising purposes.

Mr Zuckerberg defended the changes in his blog post but goes on to state that the terms will undergo a substantial revision.

The former terms of service, which have now been reinstated, feature the crucial sentence which protects user data: “You may remove your user content from the site at any time.”

A new group called the Facebook Bill of Rights and Responsibilities has been created on the website to enable users to discuss the terms of use, make suggestions and ask questions.

Facebook has more than 175 million users and recently celebrated its fifth birthday.