Anyone who has used Facebook for any length of time at all has surely seen (and maybe even reposted) those legalese-blurbs that start out with “In response to the proposed changes to Facebook’s Privacy Policy, I hereby blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.” Each and every time a rumor goes around that Facebook is making policy changes (whether or not the rumor is true), the same posts start popping up all over everyone’s Timelines — and they do not one bit of good. None. Zip. Zero. Zilch. Nada.
The fact is, when you signed up for an account on Facebook, you agreed to Facebook’s terms (as outlined in their Statement of Rights and Responsibilities and Data Use Policy), whether or not you actually read them. By agreeing to these terms, you essentially signed a contract that will remain in force as long as you use your account, and be governed by whatever version of the SRR/DUP is currently in place. So, attempting to negate that contract by posting a dubious piece of verbiage* on your Timeline is akin to writing “I will no longer pay income taxes!” on a sticky note and plastering it to your forehead. It doesn’t mean a thing and just makes you look silly. 🙂
That does NOT mean that you shouldn’t be aware of, and react accordingly to, changes that occur to Facebook’s policies. Case in point: Facebook actually IS making changes to their existing SSR/DUP terms that WILL affect your rights, and these changes will take place on December 11, 2012. Now, Facebook updates their policies all the time (the last major revision was this July), and the large majority of those changes are benign for their users. And we don’t have the time nor space to go intent to the full extent of this particular set of revisions.
HOWEVER, there is one extremely important change that will occur as the result of this update: Facebook proposes to remove your right as a user to vote on future changes.** Currently, the system in place allows for a vote, open to all Facebook users, on any proposed revisions to the SRR/DUP policies. Should 30% or more users vote against any revisions, those changes will not go into affect. Should LESS than 30% vote against, all Facebook has to do is consider the naysayers vote as advisory. (Which means, in essence, nothing.) With this change, your right to vote against future changes will be removed altogether, unless the proposed revisions are voted down.
Now, Facebook currently stands at approximately 1 BILLION users. That means, to retain our right to vote on future changes, AT LEAST 300,000,000 people will need to vote AGAINST the current changes. (Technically, you must vote to retain the current SRR/DUP policy, which translates to voting against accepting the proposed revised policy.) I voted this morning — one of just under 65,000 who have done so since voting began yesterday, December 3rd. Voting ENDS at midnight PST on December 10th. That means 240,935,000 people still need to weigh in or the option TO vote will go away. For good.
Here is where you need to go to vote:
www.facebook.com/fbsitegovernance/app_531615603522381
Again, vote to retain the CURRENT policies. And, please, share this with your Friends — the voting app will allow you to do this, so please don’t pass up the opportunity to retain our rights.
Thank you.
*For further information/explanation on this particular Facebook rumor, visit the Snopes website at www.snopes.com/computer/facebook/privacy.asp. In fact, I would highly recommend that you check Snopes before believing (and definitely before passing along) ANY kind of online rumor, whether about social media, politics, or just about anything. They do a terrific job of separating the facts from the innuendo.
**Here is the actual text showing the current policy and proposed revision. Highlights are mine.
Current policy:
14. Amendments
- We can change this Statement if we provide you notice (by posting the change on the Facebook Site Governance Page) and an opportunity to comment. To get notice of any future changes to this Statement, visit our Facebook Site Governance Page and “like” the Page.
- For changes to sections 7, 8, 9, and 11 (sections relating to payments, application developers, website operators, and advertisers), we will give you a minimum of three days notice. For all other changes we will give you a minimum of seven days notice. Comments to proposed changes will be made on the Facebook Site Governance Page.
- If more than 7,000 users post a substantive comment on a particular proposed change, we will also give you the opportunity to participate in a vote in which you will be provided alternatives. The vote shall be binding on us if more than 30% of all active registered users as of the date of the notice vote.
- If we make changes to policies referenced in or incorporated by this Statement, we may provide notice on the Site Governance Page.
- We can make changes for legal or administrative reasons, or to correct an inaccurate statement, upon notice without opportunity to comment.
- Your continued use of Facebook following changes to our terms constitutes your acceptance of our amended terms.
Revised policy:
14. Amendments
- Unless we make a change for legal or administrative reasons, or to correct an inaccurate statement, we will provide you with seven (7) days notice (for example, by posting the change on the Facebook Site Governance Page) and an opportunity to comment on changes to this Statement. You can also visit our Facebook Site Governance Page and “like” the Page to get updates about changes to this Statement.
- If we make changes to policies referenced in or incorporated by this Statement, we may provide notice on the Site Governance Page.
- Your continued use of Facebook following changes to our terms constitutes your acceptance of our amended terms.