My brother often jokes about the sentence “I have read and accept the Terms and Conditions” being the biggest lie on the Internet. I mean, is there somebody who actually reads those things? I have been asked to write them once and those were the longest few hours of my life! This little ignorance of ours can, however, turn out to be very damaging. So here’s just a few things we don’t know about our favorite social network...
This piece of information is actually completely new for me! I’ve always thought of Facebook as an ideal place to advertise your business and I’ve actually listed this as one of my Facebook pros. Well, apparently, you can’t use Facebook for commercial purposes. At least that’s the general rule, which everybody seem to be breaking, if I may add.
Did you know that, by settling to Facebook terms you agree that everything you post on Facebook becomes company’s property? That goes for all your photos, comments, blogs, random thoughts you post as status messages… everything! And guess what? The company (Facebook) has the right to sell, publish, translate, modify, distribute that content anywhere in the world. Yes, one click of the mouse is all it takes for you to give up all your rights and help Facebook make millions out of a good photo, idea or a witty slogan you were foolish enough to publish on your Facebook profile. And don’t even bother to delete your profile after reading this, it won’t help because they keep your content and information even after you’ve deleted your profile.
…because you probably won’t end up being the winning side, no matter how strong your case might be. You see, if you decide to press charges against Facebook, the dispute will be handled under Delaware laws. Now, I honestly don’t know much about them or law in general but this doesn’t sound very promising to me. In fact, the only idea I’m getting right now is that this law is somehow “useful”, if I may put it that way.
In fact, it’s not private at all! Now, why would we ever think it is? Oh yeah, I know why – because we didn’t read the disclaimer where it actually says that they cannot and will not guarantee that the content we post is 100% safe and private. Facebook does have its security protocols, of course, but let’s not forget that everything set by man can be breached by man. So, if a hacker somehow manages to steal all your private information and uses them in a manner that violates you and your privacy, don’t even bother to go and blame Facebook for it! They have nothing to do with it and they certainly won’t be held responsible.
And I’m not talking about the nice, chocolate ones! I’m talking about those little electronic cookies Facebook stores on your computer and, according to some, there’s quite a bit of them. Now, why is that such a bad thing? Well, I’m not a big computer whiz myself but, according to people that can call themselves that way, these cookies can be read by other sites too! That means that, if you happen to visit a site designed to read these cookies, your personal information and log in details may be stolen. What happens after? Nothing, you can just sit and weep because the point number
4 applies.
And they have probably changed a couple of times from the date you’ve signed up for your Facebook account. So, if you are one of those few ones that have actually bothered to read Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy before checking the box, don’t bet your entire salary on the fact that you know everything that’s written there. Why? Because the Terms get updated and modified every month and you agreed to let Facebook reserve the rights to modify or even completely change them whenever, however and without any notice.
The logic is quite simple – once sign up by stating that you have read and agreed to all their terms, Facebook has the right to use your info anyway possible. Facebook practically owns your ass now and a property of Facebook is a property of its partners too! Have you been receiving an awful lot of spam mails ever since you’ve signed up for a Facebook account? Well, now you know who is the one to blame. But, did you know that Microsoft has 30% of Facebook in its property? Furthermore, if Facebook ever gets completely sold, your info and everything you’ve ever posted or wrote will become a property of the new owner too. So let’s hope the porn industry doesn’t get a hold of this global network – we wouldn’t want our faces on their sites, wouldn’t we?
Did you know all this? How does it make you feel? I was actually very fond of Facebook prior to this research. Now… well, I’m not sure what to think of it. I really don’t feel comfortable knowing that my photos may end up God knows where, “decorating” a text I haven’t even read! Would you feel comfortable with that? And will you continue to use Facebook after knowing all this?
Top Photo Credit: David Berkowitz
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