If you have been among the multitudes that have rushed to copy and paste as your status a ‘Notice’ to Facebook that is supposed to stop them using your private info, this one is for you. A good proportion of Facebook users have been copying and pasting the so called privacy notice on their timelines but know this: this matters less to Facebook than a snowflake in Siberia. The fact is that Facebook does pretty much what they want; your status makes less than no difference to them.
We have posted or seen this
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In the picture above you see a ‘notice’ with just enough legalese in it to make it sound (almost) authentic. “Code of Intellectual Property”? What country? And Rome Statute? Did you fall for this one?
This status update is a hoax
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So in case you haven’t figured it out yet, this is a hoax.
A recurring hoax
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And it isn’t the first time either. This one has been circulating and has appeared in different avatars and with various different alarmist warnings over the past some years now.
Facebook has confirmed it’s a hoax
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Facebook has clarified that “You’re in control” which of course translates as “We are in control and we’ll do what the hell we want; essentially what we have been doing all along”. Their default settings already give them scarily wide permissions and they will continue to do what they want with your personal information, photos and so on; status update or not.
Your status is not going to protect you
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Just think about it: you think Facebook is going to read your status and then be very, very scared by the threatening tone of it?
It’s pretty simple
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How can your status update be binding on anyone!
Change your privacy settings
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If you’re worried about your information and photos being visible to strangers or being misused, change your privacy settings. This really can protect you. To an extent; the extent that Facebook thinks fit, that is.
So next time, don’t just copy and paste
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Stop and think a bit.
The only thing that will protect you….
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Is to stop using Facebook altogether.
Author – Reena Daruwalla
