14 DAY TRIAL // Gullible users are buying into a hoax that has been spreading for some time on Facebook, claiming the social network can be stopped from using an account owner’s information by simply posting a message informing that this action is restricted.
Whoever started this chain is definitely having a laugh seeing how the prank reached to be distributed to so many users.
Indeed, Facebook has a massive database containing all sorts of information about its users, and it can and does use it to create a better social network experience. All this data is collected the moment the user signs up and begins to post online.
Users agree to having their content used
Upon enrolling the service to connect with friends and discovering new people, the client is asked to take a look at something called terms of service, and state that the Data Use Policy has been read and understood, along with the use of cookies.
The text and the style of the text may appear very official to most users, but the truth is that it has absolutely no effect on how the social network uses the content added to its infrastructure, which is done with the consent of the owner.
Graham Cluley caught such a post and published it on his blog. “As of January 5th, 2015 at 8:05 am I do not give Facebook or any other 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,” reads the message.
Facebook does not own user content
Guess what? Users are still the owners of everything they put on the network, but with this action Facebook is also granted permission to use this information.
This has some restrictions, though, as the social network can only employ the data with the consent of the user. Basically, users control who sees what and Facebook just complies to the requests: if the owner of the account decides to share content publicly, then this is what would happen.
Before cluttering the account with futile attempts to change the way Facebook uses the content shared through its services, it would be best to take a look at the Data Use Policy page. If the terms are not acceptable, there is always the possibility to delete the account, which should remove all information related to it, although some data may still be available on backup systems for as much as 90 days.