Tech Talk with Bob

Note From Bob: I AM NOT A LAWYER.

Nor do I claim to be any kind of legal expert in any way. Do not rely on any of this information for legal purposes. It is intended for informational purposes only. Contact a legal professional should you have a need or concern to clarify any of the following you are about to read. And now on with the show…

Social media websites can be a lot of fun. They can also be an excellent and efficient way to stay in touch with friends and family. They provide a platform to reach out and share your thoughts and ideas. A lot of people share their creativity online, whether it is writing articles, short stories, or poetry. Perhaps you may have shared your photography, paintings, sketches, or videos. Maybe you are a musician and want to share your songs. The popularity of these sites is obvious with the millions, and billions, of folks who use them daily. Social media websites can be a great outlet where you can tell your entire story, and usually for free.

Ok, I know you are smart enough to realize that most free things in life come with a catch. Think about the websites you interact with and especially those sites where you post personal information about yourself. They usually have a “Terms of Service” or “Terms of Use” policy. If you use any social media websites, then you have agreed to their specific policy. Before most sites will let you post anything on them, you must agree to their policy terms whether you like them or not. Many social media website users have agreed to these policies without ever taking the time to read them. Are you one of them? Come on, you can tell me. I’m willing to bet you did not read their Terms of Use. If you didn’t, well, you’re not alone.

Most people are so impatient with getting setup on a social media website that they don’t always read the “fine print.” Sure, it’s in a small font and it’s long, so you just click “accept” and get on with your life. Right? Now, anything you post on their website is still your intellectual property, but now you have given them license to do pretty much anything they want with your stuff you post.

Here is an excerpt from Facebook’s terms:

“The permissions you give us. We need certain permissions from you to provide our services: 1) Permission to use content you create and share: Some content that you share or upload, such as photos or videos, may be protected by intellectual property laws. You own the intellectual property rights (things like copyright or trademarks) in any such content that you create and share on Facebook and the other Facebook Company Products you use. Nothing in these Terms takes away the rights you have to your own content. You are free to share your content with anyone else, wherever you want.

However, to provide our services we need you to give us some legal permissions (known as a ‘license’) to use this content. This is solely for the purposes of providing and improving our Products and services as described in Section 1 above. Specifically, when you share, post, or upload content that is covered by intellectual property

rights on or in connection with our Products, you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sublicensable, royalty-free, and worldwide license to host, use, distribute, modify, run, copy, publicly perform or display, translate, and create derivative works of your content (consistent with your privacy and application settings). This means, for example, that if you share a photo on Facebook, you give us permission to store, copy, and share it with others (again, consistent with your settings) such as service providers that support our service or other Facebook Products you use. This license will end when your content is deleted from our

Facebook then goes on to tell you that even though you may have deleted your content and perhaps even closed your account; they still have license to your content if you have shared this content with another Facebook user who still has your content on their page.

Now please understand, this is not an attack on Facebook or any other social media site. Regardless of the social media website(s) you may have joined, you will most likely find that these company’s policies are remarkably similar. And I certainly am not saying that social media sites are looking to usurp your content. But you should be aware of what you are allowing others to do with your content when you post to these websites. I highly encourage you to become completely familiar with the polices of any websites in which you post content that is personal and/or intellectual property that you rather not license for free or for just anyone to use. You may not really care if any of your social media content is being freely used. However, you need to be aware of this, because someday you might prefer to be a little more selective about what you post online. Be Safer My Friend.

Cyber criminals will exploit the easy, unprotected systems. Protecting your data is your responsibility, but you don’t have to do it all by yourself. My staff and I are here to help you navigate through these cumbersome and often confusing tasks. If you are not sure your computer is safe, please have it looked over by a Professionally Certified Computer Technician. If you need a certified professional, call us now at 727-534-4000. We’ve been helping folks restore their peace of mind, and sanity, with their technology for decades.

We Keep You Safer In Your Digital World!