In the past year or so, I’ve seen a suspicious notice go down my timeline from many of my Facebook friends. What I first thought was a virus hack was, instead, a willing and cautious post to protect their Facebook information from being disclosed and distributed without prior consent now that the popular social networking website is a public entity. I don’t blame anyone for taking the provisions to protect their privacy in an internet world where nude celebrity pictures that happened to be uploaded in iCloud happened to continuously be leaked rounding out 2014. But this “privacy notice” is, indeed, a hoax.

I’m always a person that likes to be well informed on certain items that I post on my profile. Ignorance is bliss and I’ve stumbled across my fair share of satire articles that were so convincingly written that I believed that they were true. So, I decided to Google this mysterious Facebook “notice” that has reappeared in my timeline from months ago. The first thing that I saw that was questionable was the fact that it said “Channel 13”. In my city with my cable provider, Channel 13 doesn’t have a news show. As a matter of fact, it’s a channel for 24/7 infomercials! The fact that folks that I know from my town were posting this caused me to grow suspicion.

Researching up on these meme’s and status updates, I ran across a news affiliate out of Ohio that actually is a “Channel 13” news station. In October of 2013, they denounced the viral posts, saying:

“We want to let you know this doesn’t refer to our station and further posting this doesn’t change your Facebook privacy settings.  Nothing on your status can change the settings you’ve selected nor does a copy and pasted set of words impact what Facebook shares or uses.” [1]

Digging deeper into Facebook’s data sharing policy, here is what you consented to when you signed up for Facebook and agreed to the terms of use. [2]

• We receive data about you whenever you use or are running Facebook, such as when you look at another person’s timeline, send or receive a message, search for a friend or a Page, click on, view or otherwise interact with things, use a Facebook mobile app, or make purchases through Facebook.
• When you post things like photos or videos on Facebook, we may receive additional related data (or metadata), such as the time, date, and place you took the photo or video.
• We receive data from or about the computer, mobile phone, or other devices you use to install Facebook apps or to access Facebook, including when multiple users log in from the same device. This may include network and communication information, such as your IP address or mobile phone number, and other information about things like your internet service, operating system, location, the type (including identifiers) of the device or browser you use, or the pages you visit. For example, we may get your GPS or other location information so we can tell you if any of your friends are nearby, or we could request device information to improve how our apps work on your device.
• We receive data whenever you visit a game, application, or website that uses Facebook Platform or visit a site with a Facebook feature (such as a social plugin), sometimes through cookies. This may include the date and time you visit the site; the web address, or URL, you’re on; technical information about the IP address, browser and the operating system you use; and, if you are logged in to Facebook, your User ID.
• Sometimes we get data from our affiliates or our advertising partners, customers and other third parties that helps us (or them) deliver ads, understand online activity, and generally make Facebook better. For example, an advertiser may tell us information about you (like how you responded to an ad on Facebook or on another site) in order to measure the effectiveness of – and improve the quality of – ads.

So, in simpler terms, your information is already being used and disclosed for the afore mentioned reasons and it has been since November 15, 2013, the date of the last revision of the “Statements of Rights and Responsibilities”. This is the risk you take when you make the decision to indulge in social media usage family. But, you already know this! Let this be a quick reminder so you won’t waste your time copying and pasting something that’s virtually useless.

I’d advise you to start fact checking everything you see. With the resource of Google at our disposal at any time, it’s not hard. Don’t me misinformed or tricked into going along with the next big social media gag orchestrated by childish pseudo-pranksters or parody websites. We live in the information age and it’s about time for you to adapt!

 

Sources cited:

1. http://www.13abc.com/story/23727056/viral-facebook-post-is-not-from-13-action-news
2. https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/your-info
3. https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms
4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDHDM7PfyYs

 

-We came, we saw, we conquered! My debut publishing effort “Riverview High: Circumstances” reached #2 on the Amazon charts! Check it out on Amazon today. Don’t forget to leave a review!

http://www.amazon.com/Riverview-High-Circumstances-Young-Fiction-ebook/dp/B00O2FCWGY/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

-“The Diary Of Aaliyah Anderson” is out now! Make sure to go get it!

http://www.amazon.com/Diary-Aaliyah-Anderson-Randall-Barnes/dp/0988762196/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1404822785&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Diary+Of+Aaliyah+Anderson

Do you have any questions, comments or concerns? Was I right or wrong on this issue? I would love to hear from you! Contact me directly at:

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