How private is Facebook?
This post was written by Kelsey Beninger of NatCen Social Research and was first published on the organisation's blog . Social media is constantly evolving. It’s not surprising that even the most diligent social networkers struggle to keep abreast of how changes affect the information they share. This is particularly true of Facebook. I’ve heard colleagues and friends say, ‘at least what you write on Facebook is private - only your friends can see it.’ A Northern Irish High Court disagrees. In a recent case, the court allowed a document posted to the defendant’s Facebook account to be included as evidence despite demands by the defendant that it was confidential information. Information posted, even if meant only for friends and in a closed group, was considered to be done in full knowledge that those friends could forward the information at which point it enters the public domain. From here the principle of confidentiality has no application. While this new case law is not legally...
