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Posting a notice on your Facebook wall will not protect your privacy rights

snopes.com

41–50 of 89 posts

Re: Posting a notice on your Facebook wall will not protect your privacy rights

#41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your last point is actually quite alarming: I have often been told that in order to be successful, I should surround myself with people much smarter than I am. But, when I see all these Facebook notices and FREE $500 COSTCO GIFT CARD shares, I can't seem to shake the feeling that I have thus failed in life.

I get some of the weirdest Facebook posts from folks who I know are very smart--like professional musicians and Ph.D. researchers. They're very accomplished in their fields, but just haven't spend enough time online to develop "street smarts" about these things like we have.

[deleted]

Re: Posting a notice on your Facebook wall will not protect your privacy rights

#42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's... complicated. Just remember that you don't have to actually use Facebook. You merely need Facebook. In other words, Facebook is your social network; it represents your circle of power. The more points you have on the circle, the more directions you can pivot in life. For example, often times the people who are the least capable can still be an advantage to you; they will be loyal to you, and they will help you…

Is it necessary for friends to "be an advantage" to you besides just being your friends? When you spend a lot of time in places like HN, you're at risk of succumbing to some kind of extremist lifestyle where you have to rationalize even who your friends are or use dumbbells while you're brushing your teeth because it saves time. This is not necessary. I have friends from way back that can't relate to what I'm doing a…

Is it necessary for friends to "be an advantage" to you besides just being your friends?

No, not at at all. I just have no friends from my early days. (Ruthlessly bullied throughout school. Midwest children had no tolerance for programming geeks circa 2000.)

One of the primary ways people can find "you specifically" is through Facebook, and the other way is through LinkedIn. That's all I meant by "you need Facebook".

Recruiters, for example. I've gotten way more random LinkedIn offers that have led to jobs than I ever would've guessed. (~7 offers, 2 jobs. But of course the "offers" are just "offers to interview"; still, that's something.)

Re: Posting a notice on your Facebook wall will not protect your privacy rights

#43
post #38

As a citizen of the EU and a country with strong privacy protection, my privacy rights are protected by law, and neither Facebook's terms nor the fact that any other entity can collect certain information from Facebook negates that right. The claims by Snopes are equally false: whatever Facebook terms a user may have accepted whenever, they are trumped by the law. You can't give up your civil rights with single click…

The Snopes article refers to the forward which cites US law. It doesn't directly address the hoaxes abroad.

Re: Posting a notice on your Facebook wall will not protect your privacy rights

#44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get some of the weirdest Facebook posts from folks who I know are very smart--like professional musicians and Ph.D. researchers. They're very accomplished in their fields, but just haven't spend enough time online to develop "street smarts" about these things like we have.

The same is true for me, I don't use FB but I've seen over the shoulder of it being used by people who would be on my friends list should I use it. These are often pretty smart people but they seem to mainly use FB for cat memes , pictures of food and the sort of "nerd humour" you might find on reddit.

"These are often pretty smart people but they seem to mainly use FB for cat memes , pictures of food and the sort of "nerd humour" you might find on reddit."

FB does not do very well for other purposes.

Re: Posting a notice on your Facebook wall will not protect your privacy rights

#45
post #38

As a citizen of the EU and a country with strong privacy protection, my privacy rights are protected by law, and neither Facebook's terms nor the fact that any other entity can collect certain information from Facebook negates that right. The claims by Snopes are equally false: whatever Facebook terms a user may have accepted whenever, they are trumped by the law. You can't give up your civil rights with single click…

> You can't give up your civil rights with single click.

Of course you can. Contracts can and do override a right enshrined in law. I can sign an agreement that gags me from talking about something, in which case I've given up my right to free speech (if you're in a country where such a right exists).

You seem to be referring to the EU's Data Protection and privacy policies - there are explicit exemptions under the EU/US Safe Habor (which applies here) that allow contractual opt-out from certain rights. I am not saying this is the case with Facebook: merely that it is naive to assume just because a right is enshrined in law doesn't mean you cannot give it up through a contract.

Re: Posting a notice on your Facebook wall will not protect your privacy rights

#46

The Snopes article also links to a page on a moonshine distillery website that claims to show you how to get diplomatic immunity: http://www.coppermoonshinestills.com/id53.html Well worth reading for kicks, and reads more like a primer on how to make yourself a nuisance to local courts. tl;dr You have to fill out some documents, notarize them, have state and federal judges sign them, and refuse any case you're involv…

"have state and federal judges sign them"

Oh, is that all?

Re: Posting a notice on your Facebook wall will not protect your privacy rights

#47
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's the main reason I quit facebook. It made me think badly of people that I had fond memories of.

I'm up voting this because I feel similar. However, I'm not sure if I feel Facebook is the main issue at play.

It really is: before facebook, I wasn't exposed to every passing fancy or idea that these people had.

Within the contexts where I met and got to know these people, they are great. In angry political comments, or wallspam trying to get something or other banned, they are not. Facebook forced me to acknowledge that I like a bit of formality and artifice in my relationships with most people. I think that most people are more attractive with their clothes on.

Re: Posting a notice on your Facebook wall will not protect your privacy rights

#48
post #38

As a citizen of the EU and a country with strong privacy protection, my privacy rights are protected by law, and neither Facebook's terms nor the fact that any other entity can collect certain information from Facebook negates that right. The claims by Snopes are equally false: whatever Facebook terms a user may have accepted whenever, they are trumped by the law. You can't give up your civil rights with single click…

Unless you feel you can dispute it, the jurisdiction for your use of Facebook and the jurisdiction underwhich you agreed to use Facebook is Santa Clara County, Calfiornia, United States.

See 16.1 in https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms

Also, although the EU has strict data retention and data-export laws, you agreed to give up when you signed up for Facebook because Facebook keeps its data in the US.

Re: Posting a notice on your Facebook wall will not protect your privacy rights

#49
post #8

That little thing (sometimes huge thing) people put at the end of their emails that "this is confidential" is also pointless as you cannot enter into a confidentiality agreement that way.

Our in house council told us that the sad things about email disclaimers is that while they are useless in the sense that if you send it to someone by accident people can't be held accountable to what you put in it, they do have value. Unfortunately due to the proliferation of these notices, if you don't include one then someone may have more legal leeway to do what they want with the email. So its a sort of it's use…

It at least declares your intent for the message, which one presumably holds the copyright upon (although technically the company might own the copyright, I'm assuming that as the primary agent of the company in regard to that work, the author has some leeway). Unauthorized distribution of the mails would usually be a copyright violation, and excuses to the contrary can be negated by including a huge chunk of text that says "this must be private, seriously".

So yes, I see how it can help kind of but not really. It doesn't really change anything, just makes a case tighter should you need to make one, lest the defendant imply he had your authorization to distribute the mails.

IANAL.

Re: Posting a notice on your Facebook wall will not protect your privacy rights

#50
And when one side in a relationship is able to offer take-it-or-leave it terms which may change at any time without notice simply by being published on some arbitrary web page, but the other is not? Does this really meet conditions for a binding contract?
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