If you're on Facebook (of course you are), then you've seen the deluge of copyright ownership statuses claiming that you can 'own' your private data just by announcing it on your wall? Well, don't buy it. The only way to keep posts—including photos, videos, messages and other content—safe on Facebook is to not post on Facebook.
Users were warned that simply by typing the following blurb on their profile, they would safeguard their privacy:
“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!”
According to an article in the NY Daily, the message is a total sham. A hoax.
a) there are no new Facebook guidelines; and
b) the Berner Convention is an ancient copyright policy that is meaningless the minute you sign up to Facebook's conditions.
Yes, they own you and every last scrap of data you post—from the BLT you ate for lunch, to the indigestion that followed.
The only thing you CAN control is how that data is disseminated to the public, via your privacy settings.
Facebook policy states that your data is stripped of your name, and effectively becomes "faceless" before it is sold onto advertisers:
“We provide data to our advertising partners or customers after we have removed your name or any other personally identifying information from it, or have combined it with other people's data in a way that it is no longer associated with you.”
But if you really don't want your data sold to third-parties, then the only surefire way to do so is to deactivate your account, and resort to old-fashioned texting and emailing friends and family to keep in touch.
Worried about Facebook's ever-sketchy privacy policies, or too hooked to delete your account?
Printer-friendly version