 If you are considering sharing the Facebook post that begins: "Channel 13 News was just talking about this change in Facebook's privacy policy," please don't. You're filling up news feeds with a waste of time. Granted, some shares and posts are also a waste of time, but that's an entirely different topic. This is about the privacy policy and why you don't need to post this.
It's cyclical really. Every so often privacy proclamations against Facebook creep up into our news feeds. And then they're shared - again and again. All, of which, are a waste of time since you've already agreed to Facebook's terms of use. And it doesn't matter that Facebook is publicly traded. If you really want to protect yourself, close your Facebook account. Well, at least that protects your future - not what you've already posted. Snopes.com explains all of this quite well: Facebook users cannot retroactively negate any of the privacy or copyright terms they agreed to when they signed up for their accounts, nor can they unilaterally alter or contradict any new privacy or copyright terms instituted by Facebook, simply by posting a contrary legal notice on their Facebook walls. Moreover, the fact that Facebook is now a publicly traded company (i.e., a company that has issued stocks which are traded on the open market) or an "open capital entity" has nothing to do with copyright protection or privacy rights. Any copyright or privacy agreements users of Facebook have entered into with that company prior to its becoming a publicly traded company or changing its policies remain in effect: they are neither diminished nor enhanced by Facebook's public status. Before you can use Facebook, you must indicate your acceptance of that social network's legal terms, which includes its privacy policy and its terms and policies. You cannot alter your acceptance of that agreement, nor can you restrict the rights of entities who are not parties to that agreement, simply by posting a notice to your Facebook account or citing the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) or the Berne Convention. (One of the common legal talismans referenced above is UCC Section 1-308, which has long been popular among conspiracy buffs who incorrectly maintain that citing it above your signature on an instrument will confer upon you the ability to invoke extraordinary legal rights.) If you do not agree with Facebook's stated policies, you have several options:
So, we can all go back to recipes and shared eecards. And, frankly, that's OK. Happy Facebooking everyone. |
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