If you follow this blog, you may have seen my articles about estate planning and the internet. In those posts, I have indicated that we are at an interesting time where law and technology are intersecting and the law is adjusting, albeit slowly, to new technology. The Chicago Tribune published a May 4, 2011 story about a woman who was charged with aggravated battery after getting into a bar fight. This is just one more example of how the legal world is reacting to the online world. Users of social media need to be cautious about what they say and who they say it to. Understanding privacy controls is of extreme importance.
This advice does not extend only to criminal law. I have heard anecdotal evidence of employers who scan thier employee's facebook pages to determine what they are doing on their "sick days". Mortgage lenders have reportedly reviewed social media sites to determine if a borrower's "hard luck" story is true or false. Personal Injury defense attorneys even check social media sites to see if people who claim injuries are, in fact, actually injured. Social media is a double edged sword. It opens up the world to the user and, at the same time, it tracks the user's every word... or admission.
