Home Consumer Facebook’s privacy settings won’t protect you in court

Facebook’s privacy settings won’t protect you in court

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Facebook Privacy Settings

Our reasons for using Facebook vary, from wanting to keep in touch with family and friends to playing games and getting news. But through it all, the general theme behind the site is information, both receiving and providing.

Do people overshare? Sure, but while we may be could stand to post a little bit less about our lives, chances are whatever we choose to disclose to the internet won’t get us into too much trouble.

At least, not any kind of legal trouble.

Your posts can be evidence

It turns out, however, anything you post or write through the site could be used against you in a court of law. We know this because the New York Court of Appeals this week ruled, by a 7-0 decision, that a Manhattan woman who suffered spinal and brain injuries from a horse riding accident had to turn over posts — photos, messages, etc. — taken both before and after sustaining her injuries.

The case came about because Kelly Forman claimed Mark Henkin (the horse’s owner) exhibited negligence when fitting her horse with a defective stirrup prior to the June 2011 incident. In trying to defend himself, Henkin wanted access to Forman’s account.

The case has gone back and forth for a while now.

[vc_btn title=”Continue reading” style=”outline” color=”black” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.komando.com%2Fhappening-now%2F441407%2Ffacebooks-privacy-settings-wont-protect-you-in-court||target:%20_blank|”][vc_message message_box_style=”outline” message_box_color=”black”]Kim Komando, excerpt posted on SouthFloridaReporter.com, Feb. 18, 2018 [/vc_message]