Who would have thought a comment as innocent as “Just walked into work at Cozen O’Connor-Toronto…so much work to get done” could potentially cause you so much trouble?
I came across an article this weekend by Tracy Staedter, titled “I’m Not Home: Please Rob Me”. Ready to become paranoid? Read the article – it’s short and to the point. Ever send out Evites? How about prior tweets, MySpace posts, etc. inviting people to your place and including an address? Bingo! Better pack up and move quick!
The website causing havoc is www.PleaseRobMe.com. Check it out…make sure you aren’t on the site…then check again after every time you tweet, post, etc. Do you have the time to constantly check? Probably not. Should you? Probably. It may make you paranoid, but then again, shouldn’t you be? But should the creators of the website be blamed – legally, morally, ethically? Should they be held accountable for what you put out into the public realm? Can you sue for violation of your privacy rights? Do you really have an expectation of privacy in any of those posts? In an age where MySpace, Friendster and other social networking sites regularly have their records subpoenaed, why should anyone think that anything they post will be “private”? What piqued my curiosity even more was how this website could apply in the criminal or tort law application. Can this website be used to substantiate or corroborate an accused’s alibi – “Your Honor, look! I have proof that I wasn’t in the city when the crime occurred…I tweeted that I would be in Los Angeles!” Look, my knowledge of Canadian (or U.S., for that matter) Criminal Law/Procedure does not extend further than the 800 or so pages of textbooks I read while in law school. But surely this website can be put to more use than just what the creators intended. So long as a proper foundation is laid, and the purported evidence is relevant, it may be admitted, right? Something to definitely consider as a defense attorney.
The creators of the website claim the site is supposed to help us…to open our eyes to the evil out in the world. Call me crazy, but perhaps a simple email addressed to me would have been more appreciated…though it leaves one wondering if such a logical course of action would have been as effective.
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February 22nd, 2010 at 7:43 pm
It never ends! Just when you’ve finally set up a Facebook page and entertained the idea of a “Twitter” account, now there’s…wait for it… “Uber-Twitter”, which you can download off of…”Twitdom”, a Twitter applications directory. Uber-Twitter is a Twitter application for a blackberry line of mobile phones. Among other things, this application will “automatically update your location based on the cell tower information provided by your mobile phone, no GPS required”.
The topic of Narine’s post may be of particular significance to the insurance industry, as I just came across an article that was recently published in the U.K.’s Telegraph, where Darren Black, head of home insurance at Confused.com (an online insurance comparison service), states:
Personally, I think it is unlikely that the use of social media will, in and of itself, automatically lead to a rise in your premiums. That said, it may still be a factor that underwiters will take it into consideration when pricing home insurance. To this end, Confused.com has provided some simple tips on how to possibly provide information and tips to consumers on how to make their privacy issues more secure and address any shortcomings from their personal situations:
1. Be careful of divulging too much information online. Self-publication may be the theme of this decade, but use common sense. Similarly, Confused.com points out that it’s crucial to keep a keen eye on your ‘friends’ list – an increasing number of thieves have been known to add you as a buddy just to check your suitability as a victim.
2. Keep your home locked and possessions hidden. (Speaking as someone who has been the victim of two break-ins in the past few years, both of which occurred in broad daylight on a Saturday afternoon, I have learned that it pays to hide valuable possessions when you leave your house unattended).
3. Buy a burglar alarm. Keep it set each night and whenever you leave the house – and don’t forget to have it tested every three months.
4. Fit a timer switch. Confused.com notes that if you’re going away and feel the need to tweet about it, the least you can do is give the impression that someone else is in. Timers are available for most products, meaning that you can have the TV, radio and lights programmed to make a burglar think that someone’s home. ( I do admit that I automatically think of that scene from “Home Alone” in which Joe Pesci’s character shows-off by telling what time each house’s timer is set to turn the lights on”).
5. Don’t try to hide your key outside your door - leave it with a friend or neighbour instead. There is pretty much no place that you can hide a key that a burgar won’t find it. If you have thought of hiding it there, chances are a burglar has too.
I would add one more to the list: Talk to your children about it. Just because you don’t use Twitter or Facebook doesn’t mean that other members of your family aren’t happily posting to their 500+ “friends” that they will be heading out on two week vacation with the entire family, leaving the home unattended. You not be on the cutting edge of ‘Twitdom’ but every new technology comes new risk; sometimes it pays to be uber-informed.