Would You Still Want To Be On Facebook After Reading This?

I saw this status update on my Facebook feed this morning. It’s a nice try, but in my opinion, it will not work. Here’s the notice:

For those of you who do not understand the reasoning behind this posting, Facebook is now a publicly traded entity. Unless you state otherwise, anyone can infringe on your right to privacy once you post to this site. It is recommended that you and other members post a similar notice as this, or you may copy and paste this version. If you do not post such a statement once, then you are indirectly allowing public use of items such as your photos and the information contained in your status updates.

PRIVACY NOTICE: Warning – any person and/or institution and/or Agent and/or Agency of any governmental structure including but not limited to the United States Federal Government also using or monitoring/using this website or any of its associated websites, you do NOT have my permission to utilize any of my profile information nor any of the content contained herein including, but not limited to my photos, and/or the comments made about my photos or any other “picture” art posted on my profile.

You are hereby notified that you are strictly prohibited from disclosing, copying, distributing, disseminating, or taking any other action against me with regard to this profile and the contents herein. The foregoing prohibitions also apply to your employee, agent, student or any personnel under your direction or control.

The contents of this profile are private and legally privileged and confidential information, and the violation of my personal privacy is punishable by law. UCC 1-103 1-308 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED WITHOUT PREJUDICE

By agreeing to the terms of service Facebook has, the one you agreed to when you joined the site, you have given Facebook the permission to use all of your information. Everything from status updates, notes, comments to photos you post here are technically not yours but theirs even if they say that these are yours. So giving notice like this is sort of meaningless. For a complete idea how much information you’re giving away, read Facebook’s ToS here:

https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms

For example, Facebook says: “You own all of the content and information you post on Facebook, and you can control how it is shared through your privacy and application settings.”

However, they add: “For content that is covered by intellectual property rights, like photos and videos (IP content), you specifically give us the following permission, subject to your privacy and application settings: YOU GRANT US A NON-EXCLUSIVE, TRANSFERABLE, SUB-LICENSABLE, ROYALTY-FREE, WORLDWIDE LICENSE TO USE ANY IP CONTENT THAT YOU POST ON OR IN CONNECTION WITH FACEBOOK (IP LICENSE). THIS IP LICENSE ENDS WHEN YOU DELETE YOUR IP CONTENT OR YOUR ACCOUNT UNLESS YOUR CONTENT HAS BEEN SHARED WITH OTHERS, AND THEY HAVE NOT DELETED IT.” [Emphasis mine]

That means they can sell your information or license it to others without remuneration to you and they can do so as long as you’re on the site. Not only that, even if you delete all of your stuff from here, as long as your content has been shared by others and they have not deleted it, that data/information/IP stays alive on Facebook which in a way guarantees everything that goes on Facebook stays on Facebook. They say that this is “subject to your privacy and application settings” but how do you monitor everything to not let something slip?

Furthermore, how many people really – and I mean REALLY – take the time to understand their privacy and app settings here on Facebook and set them according to their preferences?

Essentially, you’d have to make all your photos, videos and updates private to not have any content that Facebook can use and give to other organizations. Furthermore, your friends – if they share your content – should make their shares private. But how would they have anything to share if you make all your photos and other stuff private? It kind of defeats the purpose of having a social network if you won’t be social, right?

Basically, by being social on Facebook (making your content public), you’re giving them your IP which, according to their ToS, they can do whatever the hell they want with.

All it boils down to is your priorities. Weigh the fact that you’re giving your information to a corporation against the things you value on Facebook which should be making and connecting with friends. The question is, are you still willing to be on Facebook?

Images 1 & 2 from Alessio85 & dullhunk on Flickr

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