A social media conflict on Facebook has many people concerned. Those who have Facebook may or may not have seen recent statuses posted by their friends stating they do not give Facebook the right or permission to copyright or use anything they have posted on their profiles.
Users feel that Facebook does not have the right to share anything they post on their profile. The issue that comes into play regarding the copyright allegations towards Facebook is that those who sign up for an account are not reading the user agreement thoroughly or at all.
After researching, the Setonian found that there are ways for people to protect their information on Facebook, such as sharing minor details and verifying that their profile is private. If someone does have a profile that is public, not only are they allowing millions of people to have access to their personal information, they are allowing Facebook to gain access to the information and use it.
During a phone conversation, Ivan Saperstein, a practicing attorney and Media Law professor at SHU, explained the legality of the issue and gave some insight.
“By signing on to Facebook, at no price, you give them permission to do certain things. The legal perspective is that you almost certainly give them permission to do these things as well,” Saperstein said. “The real question is not if Facebook has a right to use user information, it is whether it is right, proper or ethical. Do users read the agreement? It is a person’s responsibility to make an informed decision as to what they post and what they give Facebook the right to do.”
Sophomore Kelly Zarnowski, who is a Facebook user said she feels safe on Facebook.
“I monitor what I put on my profile,” Zarnowski said. “It can be helpful that Facebook does have access to certain things because they are able to censor what we see and what we have access to as well.”
Facebook does ask for user permission to gain access to the information, which is stated in their privacy policy. If user goes onto his Facebook account and reads the fine print of the terms of use and the user agreement, he will notice that Facebook is not guilty of copyrighting personal information of others. Facebook also breaks down exactly how it uses the information it receives. For more information visit: https://www.facebook. com/about/privacy/your-info.
In order for people to realize that the Facebook copyright issue is a hoax, they should carefully read the user agreement, terms of use policy and the privacy policy. Then if a person feels like they do not want Facebook to have certain controls over what they post, they can make the personal decision as to keeping their Facebook account or not.
Shaygne Rodriguez can be reached at shaygne.rodriguez@student.shu.edu.
