We’ll start this with a simple question.

Who will own Facebook in 20 years?

A couple of weeks ago, Facebook silently changed its terms of use, sparking outrage and confusion among tens of thousands of users. Users believed that the terms had been changed so that Facebook, not users, would have the rights to any content they posted to profiles.

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s founder, has since changed the terms back to its original status, and apologized for the confusion saying, “we never intended to claim ownership over people’s content even though that’s what it seems like to many people.”

Ok, so right now Facebook doesn’t own the rights to your content. The organization might not even intend to ever own your content. But this little debacle raises a lot of issues.

Here’s one. Did you ever accept the change to Facebook’s terms of use?

You didn’t, because Facebook’s terms of use say they can “change, modify, add, or delete portions of the terms of use at any time without further notice.” That’s not uncommon for a terms of use, but it goes on to say it is a user’s responsibility to check to see if there have been changes to the terms of use.

Really?

Facebook has the ability to send out a message to every subscriber, but when it makes a change to its terms of use, it’s our responsibility to know it made a change? Why not send us the change, or at least alert us? And for the record, the terms of use says it was last revised on September 23, 2008…hmm?

Please tell us when you change our legal agreement. We’d appreciate it.

But here is the rub. Zuckerberg can say what he wants about the company’s intentions, but what about his intentions a year from now, or 20?

Maybe Zuckerberg will decide to sell his site, and the new owner will decide to make changes to the terms of use that you won’t know about or like. Nothing is stopping them from changing the terms of use without your knowledge, and somebody could profit immensely from selling your photos or the messages you sent in confidence to an old ex. You might not be famous now, but you could be in 20 years, or more likely have a job where an embarrassing photo could ruin your career.

Those pictures of you and your girlfriends in bikinis partying on the beach — Not yours, maybe Playboy’s. That drunken photo of you curled in a ball, passed out on the bathroom floor — Not yours, maybe The National Inquirer’s.

You hope a company wouldn’t stoop to that level, but you just don’t know. That’s a big uncertainty for the 175 million users.

So, will you trust Facebook in 20 years?