Science & Tech

If you've posed this on Facebook, you should know you've been duped

If you've posed this on Facebook, you should know you've been duped

Another week, another ridiculous Facebook hoax.

This time, several otherwise intelligent people have been posting some clumsily worded legalese as Facebook statuses in the mistaken belief it will stop the site from having control of their posts. Typically they write something along the lines of:

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).

Sounds familiar? The hoax is several years old and Facebook has even created a page debunking it. They say:

You may have seen a post telling you to copy and paste a notice to retain control over things you share on Facebook. Don't believe it. Our terms say clearly: You own all of the content and information you post on Facebook, and you can control how it's shared through your privacy and application settings. That's how it works, and this hasn't changed.

People believe the scam may be spreading again due to a recent tweak in the Facebook algorithm that allows users to see more posts from the friends - meaning they are more likely to come into contact with the hoax.

More: How to review your Facebook privacy settings

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