Post re Privacy is circulated on Facebook

[Dan Krimm]

IANAL, but my first reaction is: if this contradicts anything in FB's TOS,
it's probably non-actionable, unless relevant parts of FB's TOS violate
any terms of established law.  Also, if this contradicts anything in
established law (or is not supported by explicit law to enforce such
"contracts"), it's also probably non-actionable.  I don't know what is
"punishable by law" -- the current state of privacy law in the US is not
very strong.  This feels like a bluff to me, at best.  Or naive,
adolescent bluster.

Would be interested to hear a real lawyer who is expert in privacy issues
weigh in on this, at least in principle (not "giving legal advice" per se
which is generally precluded).

The best way to "protect yourself" is not to have a FB page, or at least
not to use it for anything you wouldn't be happy to be fully public, like
info on a business card or published articles.

Aside from all that, I endorse the PR message involved in this, though I
don't know that being a publicly traded company has any bearing on it. 
"Protect yourself" indeed, but posting a notice like this doesn't seem
likely to do anything at all in legal terms, so far as I can tell.

In the US, one thing you can do is support the Electronic Privacy
Information Center (epic.org) which fights in the public interest in the
area of privacy rights.

If there is enough of a popular uprising against lax privacy practices of
FB, especially amongst its users, that is how something might change.  We
live in the "make me do it" political world where leadership emerges from
the bottom up, not the top down.  Make them do it.

For example, there was this:

http://epic.org/2012/05/facebook-users-force-vote-on-p.html

Dan


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On Thu, May 31, 2012 6:22 am, DeeDee Halleck wrote:
> I just received this notice from one of my "facebook friends".
> I'm not sure about the efficacy of this sort of warning.
>
> Thought NCUC folks would be interested...
> DeeDee
>
>
> PRIVACY NOTICE: Warning--any person and/or institution and/or Agent and/or
> Agency of any governmental structure including but not limited to the
> United States Federal Government also using or monitoring/using this
> website or any of its associated websites, you do NOT have my permission
> to
> utilize any of my profile information nor any of the content contained
> herein including, but not limited to my photos, and/or the comments made
> about my photo's or any other "picture" art posted on my profile. You are
> hereby notified that you are strictly prohibited from disclosing, copying,
> distributing, disseminating, or taking any other action against me with
> regard to this profile and the contents herein. The foregoing prohibitions
> also apply to your employee(s), agent(s), student(s) or any personnel
> under
> your direction or control. The contents of this profile are private and
> legally privileged and confidential information, and the violation of my
> personal privacy is punishable by law.
>
> UCC 1-103 1-308 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED WITHOUT PREJUDICE
>
> For those of you that do not understand this posting Facebook is now a
> publicly traded entity. Anyone can infringe on your right to privacy once
> you post on this site.
> It is recommended that you and other members post a similar notice to this
> or you may copy and paste this one. Again, this is now a publicly traded
> site, Protect Yourself
>
> --
> http://www.deepdishwavesofchange.org
>