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

Re:bullshit

[Geoffrey.landis]

In the 80s, a good friend of mine retired from police work and went into PI work for insurance companies...

...the subject put down the axe, walkd over and picked up his rifle, and looked to be sighting a deer. My friend is still taping, and he zooms in for a moment, sighting right down the scope. He can see the subject's eye in the scope. The first round hit 2 feet to his right.

Wow. Stupidest friend EVAH!

...My friend is a patient and kind man. He offered to refuse to testify at a trial for attempted murder if the subject gave up his claim and went back to work.

That would be "obstruction of justice," Your friend is not only stupid, he should be in jail.

Another Total Garbage Court Ruling

[Nom du Keyboard]

Yet another total garbage court ruling.

If I set my privacy controls on FB to exclude others then I have a perfectly reasonable expectation of privacy.

And if I share everything with everyone, then the defendant wouldn't have needed a court order to see it.

I'm really coming to hate stupid judges with no understanding of technology, apparently no understanding of the law, and jobs guaranteed for life!