Facebook is undoubtedly the most popular media site in the world, with 350 million users. If you are in the smallest of personal injury claims the information, pictures, and posts could ruin your case. How can this be possible? Well ponder this:
- The pictures put on Facebook can be seen by anyone. Even with privacy settings networks of “friends” can view the pictures.
- Courts have ordered plaintiffs to provide access to their page to insurance company lawyers.
- Evidence from Facebook has been brought to court by the media, investigators and the police.
- Law clerks for insurance defense lawyers check Facebook for their opponents’ profile, pages, pictures and any information they could use against the opponent.
- By talking your medical problems in a public forum, you may lose the ability to protect your medical confidentiality in Court. This is why defense lawyers always want your medical information, even if it is not reliant to the claim you are pursuing.
Now here are some steps you can take to protect yourself.
- Look over your profile information, pictures, and status post to see if there is anything you would not want the insurance company lawyers to see or read.
- Check in your media privacy settings to see if you can block certain people from viewing your profile. Go ahead and block the insurance company lawyers and clerks.
- Search your name in the search bar and view what comes up when you do. You want to insure that the information presented is acceptable.
- Never accept requests or messages from people you do not know.
- You should treat your medical information even your health status, private and confidential not to be put on Facebook or other media sites.
Although the steps above are not foolproof, they will give you a better chance of your information not ending up in the wrong hands.
