Viral Facebook Privacy Hoax Is Back

If you felt a sense of déjà vu over the weekend while scrolling through your Facebook News Feed, you’re not alone.

Those dreaded paragraph-long privacy hoaxes that have been circulating on Facebook for years are resurfacing. That’s right, you know the posts we’re talking about.

The language may be slightly tweaked, but the message is the same:

Deadline tomorrow !!! Everything you’ve ever posted becomes public from tomorrow. Even messages that have been deleted or the photos not allowed. It costs nothing for a simple copy and paste, better safe than sorry. The change is in Facebook’s privacy policy. I do not give Facebook or any entities associated with Facebook permission to use my pictures, information, messages or posts, both past and future. With 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). NOTE: Facebook is now a public entity. All members must post a note like this. If you prefer, you can copy and paste this version. If you do not publish a statement at least once it will be tactically allowing the use of your photos, as well as the information contained in the profile status updates. DO NOT SHARE. Copy and paste.

According to myth-busting site Snopes.com, this particular copyright-related post has been around since November 2012.

Facebook addressed the rumors years ago in a fact-checking blog post regarding the ownership of users’ information or content they post to the site.

“This is false. Anyone who uses Facebook owns and controls the content and information they post, as stated in our terms,” Facebook stated. “They control how that content and information is shared. That is our policy, and it always has been.”

In Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, the company also states that content published using the “Public” setting allows everyone, including non-Facebook users, to access that information. But if you set your content to “Private,” then the rules are different.

Last year, two similar privacy hoaxes resurfaced, causing users to believe their Facebook data would be made public if they didn’t copy/paste the false status.

One claimed to be a legally-binding message to protect Facebook photos and profile information from copyright infringement, a false status that has also been spreading since 2012:

As of September 28th , 2015 at 10:50p.m. Eastern standard time, 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). NOTE: Facebook is now a public entity. All members must post a note like this. If you prefer, you can copy and paste this version. If you do not publish a statement at least once it will be tactically allowing the use of your photos, as well as the information contained in the profile status updates.

And another purported to allow users to purchase a monthly subscription to ensure posts stay private, a fake offer that has been playing on people’s security concerns since at least 2011.

Now it’s official! It has been published in the media. Facebook has just released the entry price: £5.99 ($9.10) to keep the subscription of your status to be set to “private.” If you paste this message on your page, it will be offered free (I said paste not share) if not tomorrow, all your posts can become public. Even the messages that have been deleted or the photos not allowed. After all, it does not cost anything for a simple copy and paste.

It may seem like it can’t hurt to share them, but posting any of the above statuses doesn’t help protect your privacy in any way.

In fact, the only thing it may hurt is your reputation – for falling for this obvious hoax.