Everything You Post Can and Will Be Used Against You

March 2, 2011 by Personal Privacies
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Home Page > Internet > Everything You Post Can and Will Be Used Against You

Everything You Post Can and Will Be Used Against You

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Posted: Nov 11, 2010 |Comments: 0
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If you are in the process of settling a lawsuit where the value of your case is based upon the merits of your testimony it is important to realize the opposing party will do anything to discredit you. Alternatively, if you are selling a structured settlement annuity a best interest finding will determine whether you will receive a lump sum of cash or not. There have been changes to the legal landscape you need to be aware of in order to protect your best interest. Before the web and social media, researching a plaintiff, witness, employee or spouse required hiring a private investigator to dig up dirt on the person. Maybe they would follow them around taking photographs with telescopic lens catching them in compromising positions. Investigators would find other witnesses to undermine their credibility. Nowadays lawyers, investigators, insurance companies, spouses, employers and even the Federal Government are using the Internet, specifically social media, to gather intelligence with a simple mouse click.

Just about everyone uses the web and almost as many are involved in some aspect of social media. Whether it is a site like Facebook or community like Meet Up they are broadcasting their whereabouts, opinions and other details of their lives in a public forum. Even if they are cautious enough to use the privacy settings they may have befriended someone they know little or nothing about.

Some data can easily be found by using a search engine or two. Other data is obtained due to the exploitation of people’s narcissistic tendency to have more friends. According to a study by the advocacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), law enforcement agencies of all types as well as the Internal Revenue Service are gathering information from these sites. The EFF obtained a 38 page training document detailing how to conduct these searches and refine the results.[1] The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) investigators become friends with petitioners to determine whether or not their application data is fraudulent.[2] In addition, the FBI has developed a tool called Writeprint that claims to help identify the creators of anonymous online content.[3]

According to a Wisconsin Law Journal post, lawyers are using information from social media to discredit potential witnesses as well as investigate their clients. While some of the information is out in the open for anyone to find using a search engine, some agents for attorneys have admitted to becoming friends with the opposition in order to obtain information they wouldn’t have access to otherwise. Some lawyers have admitted to reviewing client posts and rejecting them.[4] Dan Nabel of The Legal Intelligencer states in the article called, “When Can Attorneys Advise Clients to Change Online Privacy Settings?” that in some cases lawyers have been able to obtain court orders to gain access to private and deleted social media pages to be used as evidence in a variety of cases including personal injury lawsuits, workers compensation and wrongful termination cases.

If this wasn’t proof enough that you need to be careful about your posts, employers[5] as well as insurance[6] companies are using social media to gain access to information that they wouldn’t have access to otherwise. In some instances, it could set the stage for discriminatory practices as well as lawsuits.[7] It could also affect the insured’s ability to collect payments on insurance claims.

As social media continues to evolve and new technologies are introduced, user privacy or lack thereof will continue to be an issue. The information that is gathered and how it is used as well as integrity of this data are things that need to be considered. In the future, hopefully, there will be more protection for social media users and their privacy. Until then the best course of action is to refrain from posting anything you don’t want everyone to know about you or used against you in the future especially if and when your personal injury lawsuit goes to trial.

References:

Lynch, Jennifer (2010). Government Finds Uses for Social Networking Sites Beyond Investigations. Retrieved November 10, 2010 from http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/08/government-finds-uses-social-networking-sites
Lynch, Jennifer (2010). Applying for Citizenship? U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Wants to Be Your “Friend” . Retrieved November 10, 2010 http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/10/applying-citizenship-u-s-citizenship-and
Lynch, Jennifer (2010). Government Finds Uses for Social Networking Sites Beyond Investigations. Retrieved November 10, 2010 from http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/08/government-monitors-much-more-social-networks
Using social networks to investigate your case (2009). Retrieved November 10, 2010 from http://wislawjournal.com/blog/2009/10/19/using-social-networks-to-investigate-your-case/
Sclafane, Susanne (2010). Are Medical Marijuana, Social Media The Next Big EPL Issues? Retrieved November 10, 2010 from http://www.property-casualty.com/Exclusives/2010/6/Pages/Are-Medical-Marijuana-Social-Media-The-Next-Big-EPL-Issues.aspx
Hanchard, Doug (2010). Social media privacy: Insurance companies want access to your Facebook. Retrieved November 10, 2010 from http://www.zdnet.com/blog/government/social-media-privacy-insurance-companies-want-access-to-your-facebook/7442
Sclafane, Susanne (2010). Are Medical Marijuana, Social Media The Next Big EPL Issues? Retrieved November 10, 2010 from http://www.property-casualty.com/Exclusives/2010/6/Pages/Are-Medical-Marijuana-Social-Media-The-Next-Big-EPL-Issues.aspx

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About the Author:

Dawn Anderson is the Creative Director/Web Marketer for Rescue Capital. She has worked within the financial industry for several years at J.P. Morgan Chase and J.G. Wentworth to name a few. Dawn holds a B.A. in Advertising/Journalism from Temple University as well as a M.S. in Information Technology from Wilmington University. In addition, she has written for Smart Business Now Magazine, PDAMart and ThinkMobile.com. For more information about Rescue Capital visit www.rescuecapital.com

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Article Tags:
privacy, social media, lawsuits, lawyers, investigators, background check