Watch out for these Facebook privacy hoaxes
If your Facebook News Feed is full of paragraph-long statuses about privacy, you're not alone.
Two privacy hoaxes that have been circulating on Facebook for years resurfaced this week.
Here are the two rumors that are making the rounds:
One claims to be a legally-binding message to protect Facebook photos and profile information from copyright infringement, a false status that has been spreading since 2012:
As of September 28th , 2015 at 10:50p.m. Eastern standard time, I do not give Facebook or any entities associated with Facebook permission to use my pictures, information, or posts, both past and future. 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. The content of this profile is private and confidential information. The violation of privacy can be punished by law (UCC 1-308- 1 1 308-103 and 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 If you do not publish a statement at least once it will be tactically allowing the use of your photos, as well as the information contained in the profile status updates.
Another purports to allow users to purchase a £5.99 monthly subscription to ensure posts stay private, a fake offer that has been around since at least 2011.
Now it's official! It has been published in the media. Facebook has just released the entry price: £5.99 ($9.10) to keep the subscription of your status to be set to "private." If you paste this message on your page, it will be offered free (I said paste not share) if not tomorrow, all your posts can become public. Even the messages that have been deleted or the photos not allowed. After all, it does not cost anything for a simple copy and paste.
Facebook addressed the rumors years ago in a fact-checking blog post regarding the change related to ownership of users' information or 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," Facebook stated in the post. "They control how that content and information is shared. That is our policy, and it always has been."
Additionally, Facebook referred users to its Statement of Rights and Responsibilities: "You own all of the content and information you post on Facebook, and you can control how it is shared through your privacy and application settings."
To explain further, the social media network continues: "For content that is covered by intellectual property rights, like photos and videos (IP content), you specifically give us the following permission, subject to your privacy and application settings: you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with Facebook (IP License)."
However, the IP license ends when you delete your IP content or your account, Facebook stated. If a user chooses to delete IP content, it's deleted in a manner "similar to emptying the recycle bin on a computer."
The myth-busting site Snopes.com also addressed the Facebook subscription rumor in a blog post to debunk the myth.
"The claim that Facebook would be initiating user charges was but the bait to lure people to [a] protest page and its hidden malicious payload; there are no plans afoot to require payment from those who use the site," Snopes reported.
The revived hoaxes follow a new, more timely scam making the rounds last week. The latest tries to trick users into divulging personal information and sharing spurious links with their friends to get a "dislike" button on their profiles.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that an alternative to "like" is on the way, but it will not be called "dislike" and it has yet to start rolling out.