In Court? Be Careful What You Post On Facebook

mbone writes "Going to court? Seeking damages for injuries? Be careful what you post on Facebook (and, presumably, elsewhere). In the first case of its kind (analyzed in the Courtroom Strategy blog), a Suffolk County, NY Judge allowed a defendant in a personal injury lawsuit to obtain access to the Facebook profile of the plaintiff suing them, saying 'Plaintiff has no legitimate reasonable expectation of privacy.' You have been warned. I am not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice, but I would expect this to become common." Readers might be reminded of the Canadian case reported last year of a woman whose cheerful Facebook pictures led an insurance company to yank coverage.

Comments

bullshit

[moxley]

Of course he has a reasonable expectation of privacy.

Unless the person was on his friend's list and permitted to see particular posts, the ONLY thing the court should be able to see are things that are viewable by everyone - everything else is SPECIFICALLY set up to be private by way of the passwords and permissions system inherent in having a Facebook account.

Re:if you dont want anyone on the internet to know

[TheRaven64]

But Facebook has all sorts of privacy controls so that only my friends can see stuff!

Re:hmmm

[TheRaven64]

stupid people are unlikely to harm someone other than themselves while proceeding to apply a metaphorical firearm to their foot. This is bad? Why?

Because it's only a metaphorical firearm?