Sharing That Facebook Copyright Notice Will Not Protect Your Data

This article originally appeared on 60 Second Social.

Facebook is revising its “terms and policies” again on January 1st and in an attempt to make sure that everyone knows what is happening, Facebook is sending out notifications to keep everyone aware of it. Most of the changes have to do with simplifying Facebook’s terms of use so that everything is easier to read and understand.

You may have seen something like this hanging around on Facebook lately.

When people see this notification on and off they start getting agitated and nervous. When Facebook users get nervous they start sharing dumb stuff, kinda like this:

Today, November 30, 2014 in response to the Facebook guidelines and under 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, texts etc… published on my profile. For commercial use of the foregoing my written consent is required at all times. Those reading this text can copy it and paste it on their Facebook wall. This will allow them to place themselves under the protection of copyright. By this release, I tell Facebook that it is strictly forbidden to disclose, copy, distribute, broadcast, or to take any other action against me on the basis of this profile and/or its contents. The actions mentioned above apply equally to employees, students, agents and/or other staff under the direction of Facebook. The contents of my profile includes private information. The violation of my privacy is punished by the law (UCC 1 1-308 – 308 1 – 103 and the Rome Statute). Facebook is now an open capital entity. All members are invited to post a notice of this kind, or if you prefer, you can copy and paste this version. If you have not published this statement at least once, you will tacitly allow the use of elements such as your photos as well as the information contained in your profile.

It has been pointed out before by numerous online publications however I feel the need to point it out again because I am starting to see these posts slowly pop up again. These notices don’t do anything. They don’t even make any sense.

You retain the right to anything you publish on Facebook, we get it. Nobody is trying to take that away from you and when you click ‘yes’ on the terms and conditions when you join up to Facebook you agree to let Facebook have access and use your content for Facebook-related things.

Just to be clear, the Rome Statute established the International Criminal Court in 1998 and relates to genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes against aggression. It has nothing to do with Facebook arguments.

Posting this status or sharing it on your account means nothing, it does nothing and it does the rounds on and off from time to time with no actual effect. Give it a rest, Facebook is not some evil social media God hunting down your data.

About The Author

Mark is the founder of 60 Second Social media where he provides social media news and digital marketing analysis, he is also a proud father of his bearded dragon, Lola. You can follow him on Twitter here. You can also follow 60 Second Social on Twitter here.