Scam citing “Channel 13 News” spreading throughout Facebook

A scam citing “Channel 13 News” as a source is making its way around Facebook. Better safe than sorry. This time, there’s been a lot of chatter about Facebook charging £5.99 as a subscription to keep your profile private.

The statement goes on to state that violation of privacy can be punished under the Uniform Commercial Code, a set of laws that govern commercial transactions in the US.

The hoax has spread several times before and although the exact phrasing varies the message is generally the same: sharing the message as a status will ensure that Facebook won’t copy or distribute any of the content on your profile, including photos and personal information. At least two Facebook hoaxes about privacy concerns have been circulating over the past few days. This means Facebook can use anything you post on the website to promote itself.

Since it urges it people to copy and paste this into their own statuses, everyone and their mother feel obligated to share this glorious discovery. The idea is that Facebook users most post the status so that their pictures and information still belong to them. This includes, status updates, pictures, videos, and even fake Facebook “privacy notices”. “This IP License ends when you delete your IP content or your account unless your content has been shared with others, and they have not deleted it”. “That is our policy, and it always has been”, Facebook said in a 2012 post, addressing what it called a “Copyright Meme Spreading On Facebook”. He said that when you agree to Facebook’s terms of use you provide Facebook a “non-exclusive, transferable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any content you post”.

Even though it is obviously complete tosh, that hasn’t stopped loads of people cutting and pasting the message onto their timelines.

10 bucks or a bit of legal gymnastics isn’t going to save you from Facebook’s privacy settings – and there isn’t anything to be saved from in the first place.

The other form of the hoax is legal mumbo jumbo that is supposed to bar Facebook from using your content in any way.