Have you been the victim of the Facebook Warning Hoax? Over the past few days, many Facebook users have begun posting a message aimed at letting the company know that they want their information, including pictures, to be subject to the protection of copyright laws. Here’s what the message says:
“In response to the new Facebook guidelines, I hereby declare that my copyright is attached to all of my personal details, illustrations, comics, paintings, professional photos and videos, etc. (as a result of the Berner Convention). For commercial use of the above my written consent is needed at all times!”
What that means in plain terms is that the millions of users to the social networking site don’t want Facebook to steal their information and/or pictures. There seems to be a mistaken belief that once anything is posted to Facebook, the company marketing team has free reign to claim that information and use it however they want. While that may sound believable, it’s simply not the case. Yet, the great Facebook Warning Hoax rages on.
This issue began to pick up steam when Facebook owners took the company public earlier this year. Since then, some users have worried about how private their information will remain on this publicly traded company’s website. One key thing Facebook users should understand is that the entire internet is accessible to the public. Unless privacy settings are tweaked just so; unless a person creates a social media profile on the site that is more fiction than fact; or unless someone avoids social media altogether, any information posted online can be viewed by just about anyone with the desire to do so.
The bottom line is for users to be aware of what they are posting…and what they have signed up for. Facebook has a ‘terms of use’ policy that spells out the parameters of just how information posted to the site can be used. Those terms of use have never changed but most users wouldn’t know that. When most people signed up for the site, they just clicked “I have read and understand the terms of use,” box and began building their profile. Take comfort in knowing that Facebook cannot retroactively go back and change its policies to strip the average user of their ownership of information posted to the site. So the next time you see the Facebook Warning Hoax message on your friend’s newsfeed, just keep scrolling.
UPDATE Facebook release official statement:
“There is a rumor circulating that Facebook is making a change related to ownership of users’ information or the content they post to the site. This is false. Anyone who uses Facebook owns and controls the content and information they post, as stated in our terms. They control how that content and information is shared. That is our policy, and it always has been.”
