Facebook post won’t stop Meta from using data, photos

For at least a decade, variations of a series message that claims to guard the information of the poster have unfold round Facebook. In every model of the message, it says that for those who copy and paste its textual content, you’ll stop Facebook from using your information equivalent to photos, information, chat messages and posts.

One such model of the message spread around Facebook in early October 2022: 

“Don’t forget tomorrow starts the new Facebook (aka…new name, META) rule where they can use your photos. Don’t forget the Deadline is today!!! 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 information: The violation of privacy can be punished by law NOTE: Facebook is now a public entity. All members must post a note like this.”

Multiple VERIFY readers who’ve seen comparable posts reached out to ask if the message’s claims had been authentic.

Can posting a message on Facebook stop the corporate from using your information and posts?

No, posting a message on Facebook can’t stop the corporate from using your information and posts.

You can’t change how Facebook makes use of your information by posting a message to your web page. That’s as a result of the best way a social media community makes use of your information is set by the phrases of service you conform to whenever you use or make an account on its web site, and to some extent, the choices you choose in your account’s privateness settings.

“Currently, posted privacy policies—rather than specific federal or state laws—typically determine your privacy rights concerning the personal data that Internet-based companies collect on you,” stated lawyer Amy Loftsgordon in a weblog post on Nolo, a web-based authorized information. “Facebook, for instance, has a privacy policy stating what it can and can’t do with your information. To use the site, you have to agree to the terms of the privacy policy.”

The Terms of Service for Meta, Facebook’s guardian firm, spells out that using Facebook grants the corporate permission to make use of content material you create and share on the platform, in addition to use your identify and profile image. The Terms of Service additionally says Facebook can use information about your interactions with adverts and different industrial content material.

“This means, for example, that if you share a photo on Facebook, you give us permission to store, copy, and share it with others (again, consistent with your settings) such as Meta Products or service providers that support those products and services,” Facebook’s Terms of Service says. “This license will end when your content is deleted from our systems.”

This is the case for the most recent version of the Facebook Terms of Service, in addition to variations dating back to nearly a decade ago.

Facebook’s Data Policy goes into extra element about what information they acquire on you, how they use that information and who they share that information with. Facebook collects issues just like the content material you post, the information you add to your profile and even the information of the gadget you employ to entry Facebook. Facebook says it makes use of this information to enhance providers and to personalize adverts. Facebook shares this information with third-party apps and web sites that combine with Facebook, Facebook’s companions and with advertisers. Facebook says it solely shares anonymized information with advertisers.

Facebook is legally bound to abide by its phrases of service and information coverage, and it can’t change these insurance policies with out saying it and making it clear to its customers. Since its person base is worldwide, Facebook has to comply with information privateness legal guidelines from around the world and in the U.S.

None of Facebook’s phrases or insurance policies say the corporate will change its information assortment practices for those who post a message to your profile that claims the corporate is forbidden from using your information. So no matter wording, no chain message has the ability to stop Facebook from using your information, posts and photos.

So how are you going to management which information you select to share with Facebook? Well, the quantity of management you may have is proscribed, however you may change a few of your information sharing permissions using the privacy settings on the Facebook app or web site.

Through your privateness settings and Facebook’s associated privacy checkup, you can also make some adjustments to what information you’ll enable Facebook to share about you with advertisers.

All of this is applicable to all different social media platforms, too. They’re all legally obligated to abide by their phrases of service and information insurance policies, which you conform to by using their platforms. 

More from VERIFY: No, a post to your profile won’t stop Facebook from gathering and sharing your information