Facebook Inc. has adjusted its infrastructure in order to be able to remove deleted user photos from its servers, so that they're no longer viewable on the Web in any capacity after the fact.

Before this move, when a user deleted a photo, it would remain stored on one of the company's servers. So while the image would vanquish from an account, it could still be found online via a direct URL.

Now, Facebook has new photo-storage systems ready to go. These are able to remove photos from the company's content delivery network (CDN) within 30 days, meaning that they'll never appear online again after being deleted by a user.

Phew, what a relief!

In a statement provided to CNET, Facebook Spokesperson Frederic Wolens said, "As a result of work on our policies and infrastructure, we have instituted a 'max-age' of 30 days for our CDN links. However, in some cases the content will expire on the CDN much more quickly, based on a number of factors.

"To be clear," he added, "the photos stop being shown to other users on Facebook immediately when the photo is first deleted by the user," he said. "The 30-day window only applies to the cached images on the CDN."

Article Tags:  deleted, facebook, photo, photos, online, content, company, infrastructure, servers, remove,