Will Posting A Legal Notice On Facebook Keep Your Page Private?
Over the last few days, I've seen an increasing number of people posting a long legal mumbo jumbo status on their Facebook page. Basically, it's supposed to be a safeguard against Faebook as a publicly traded company from owning your pictures or anyone else taking them. I have information that you may want to know if you have posted this.
The legal notice posted usually looks something like this:
On June 24, 2013, by making full use of my mental faculties and my ownership of this account in Facebook, I declare, to whom it may concern, and in particular to the administrator of the company Facebook, my author rights which are related to all my personal information, comments, texts, articles, illustrations, comics, paintings, photos, professional videos and other publications in electronic format that I spread on this site under my signature. The above on the basis of the principle enshrined in the Berne Convention for the protection of literary and artistic works, as well as with regard to the respective national copyright law. For commercial use of the aforementioned items, always must be by my written consent. By this statement, I give notice to Facebook it is strictly forbidden to disclose, copy, distribute, or take any other action against me based on this profile and/or its contents. These prohibited actions also apply to employees, students, agents or members of any team, under the direction or control of Facebook. The content of this profile is private and confidential information. The violation of privacy can be punished by law (UCC 1-308 - 1 1 308-103and the Rome Statute). Note: Facebook is now a public entity. All members must post a note like this. If you prefer, you can copy and paste this version. If you do not publish a statement at least once, it will be tactically allowing the use of your photos, as well as the information contained in the profile status updates. Do not share; copy and paste
According to Snopes.com, (and a little bit to common sense) it is a mistaken belief that sharing a simple legal statement will make you immune from certain consequences. In this case you won't have to worry about Facebook owning your photos. That's simply not part of their privacy policy. Furthermore, the fact that Facebook is now publicly traded has not changed the privacy rules and has no bearing on how they use your posts. You agreed to the legal terms of Facebook, when joining, and you cannot alter them by posting a legal notice. Remember, this may be a technological world, but Facebook status is still not qualification as legal document believe it or not.
Finally, just remember that Facebook is a social media. When you post a picture, a status, or any other info, you have made it public. If you don't want someone else to see it or access it, DON'T POST IT! In the meantime, don't believe every copied status you see from your friends and just enjoy Facebook for what it was meant for...drama.
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