Posting a Notice on Facebook Won’t Protect Your Privacy

October 19th, 2012 | 4,906 views | 2 Comments »
Posted in Blogging & Social Media | Tagged Facebook, Social Media

Ever gotten an email claiming that a lost inheritance has surfaced, and that for the small sum of $5,000 you can have it wired into your bank account? Or, gotten the one that your computer has a virus, and if you remove a certain file from your system, the virus will be eradicated – only to remove that file and then find out it was a required system file and now your computer is dead?

We’ve all seen them, and the majority of us have fallen victim to at least one false email. (I know I have, and sadly on more than one occasion). I often wonder how boring must be the life of the person that sits on their computer coming up with all this nonsense, and how hard they must be laughing when they see/hear how many people believe what they had read. Some such nonsense is fairly harmless, while others can be detrimental.

Facebook Privacy Notice

Have you seen Facebook status updates like this (or perhaps you’ve already posted this or something similar)…

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.

This “notice” is not legitimate, this is a hoax. Yes, Facebook is a publicly traded company now, but you agree to their terms of privacy when you create an account, you unfortunately don’t get to create your own. This hoax started circulating around Facebook and went viral shortly before Facebook went public, and unfortunately is still in circulation.

If you see this posted as someone’s status, kindly share this blog post with them. If you’ve posted this yourself, you can safely delete the post.

For more information about this hoax – check out Snopes. And if you ever receive an email that is questionable – our advice is to google it first before acting on it or forwarding it on to others. Snopes is an excellent source to find out if something is legit or not – but often times you will find many other sites also discussing the topic.

Facebook Membership Fees

And while I have your attention – Facebook is not charging to use it’s service. I see status updates almost daily warning people to leave Facebook before they start charging, even claiming there is a plan already in place. This too, is untrue (as of the timing of this posting).