Local lawyer says Facebook ‘privacy policy’ post is hoax

JACKSON, Tenn. —  A post circulating on Facebook claims it was made on the advice of an attorney — share the post or have information stolen. But, is it true?

“Posting something unilaterally to your wall is not going to alter those terms and conditions,” said Chuck Holliday, with the Law Offices of Jeffrey A. Garrety.

He says one post won’t change the privacy policy you agreed to.

“When you post something on Facebook, you’re bound by the policies you agreed to when you signed up for it,” Holliday said.

But even if your page settings are private, it is still possible for others to get your personal information.

“Just generally be aware that anything that you post, someone could easily copy and paste to a new post even if your privacy settings are set to where only your family and friends are seeing it,” he said.

There are steps you can take to change Facebook’s privacy policy if you don’t like the agreement, or if you’re concerned about the policy.

“If you don’t like those policies, you can try to get Facebook to change their policies, or you can lobby them through, apparently there’s a Facebook site governance section where you can lobby Facebook to change its policies,” Holliday said.

And before hitting the share button, double check what you’re posting.

“It doesn’t take a minute or two to type something in, and you can quickly find out whether or not the post you’re about to share is a hoax or not,” Holliday said.

And he still wants to remind users, pause before you post.

“Don’t post something to Facebook if you don’t want the world to see it,” he said.

Holliday also recommends double checking your privacy settings to make sure you know who has access to your information.