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Facebook hoax: Why posting a legal notice on your wall won't protect you


An old Facebook hoax is gaining currency again in reaction to recently-announced changes to the social network's privacy settings.
 
In November this year, Facebook users around the world started receiving an automated notification informing them of updates to its usage terms and policies, which will take effect starting in January 2015.
 
Renewed concern over the way Facebook uses its users' information has seen the resurgence of an old hoax—a carefully-worded "legal notice" that, if posted on your timeline, supposedly protects your copyright and privacy rights from being infringed by Facebook:
 
Due to the fact that Facebook has chosen to involve software that will allow the theft of my personal information, I state: at this date of November 27, 2014, in response to the new guidelines of Facebook, pursuant to articles L.111, 112 and 113 of the code of intellectual property, I declare that my rights are attached to all my personal data drawings, paintings, photos, video, texts etc.... published on my profile and my page. For commercial use of the foregoing my written consent is required at all times. 
 
Those who read this text can do a copy/paste on their Facebook wall. This will allow them to place themselves under the protection of copyright. By this statement, I tell Facebook that it is strictly forbidden to disclose, copy, distribute, broadcast, or take any other action against me on the basis of this profile and or its content. The actions mentioned above also apply to employees, students, agents and or other personnel under the direction of Facebook. 
 
The content of my profile contains private information. The violation of my privacy is punishable by law (UCC 1-308 1-308 1-103 and the Rome Statute).
 
Facebook is now an open capital entity. All members are invited to publish a notice of this kind, or if they prefer, you can copy and paste this version.
 
If you have not published this statement at least once, you tacitly allow the use of elements such as your photos as well as the information contained in the profile update.
 
Flashback to 2012
 
 
"Facebook users cannot retroactively negate any of the privacy or copyright terms they agreed to when they signed up for their accounts, nor can they unilaterally alter or contradict any new privacy or copyright terms instituted by Facebook, simply by posting a contrary legal notice on their Facebook walls," according to mythbusting website snopes.com.

Meaningless statement
 
Tech news website Tech2 even went so far as to call the notice "meaningless."
 
"(B)y simply posting a declaration, you don’t own the content you post, and no one can use the content you post anyway. Yes, you are already protected by the copyright law. Facebook’s new policy changes don’t make any changes to the way your content is accessed. Facebook’s content policy still remains the same," it said.
 
Final word from Facebook
 
In response to the original hoax, Facebook itself categorically stated that "anyone who uses Facebook owns and controls the content and information they post... They control how that content and information is shared."
 
 
 
— GMA News