The technological revolutions of the past few years have completely changed American society. Unfortunately, when it comes to social media, those changes involve many pitfalls. Everyone, no matter their age or profession, should tread carefully when using social media.
Especially after you’ve been in a car accident.
Why?
Because insurance companies – even your own! – are just looking for ways to avoid paying what they owe.
A Short History of Social Media
When social media platforms originated at the beginning of this century, they were intended to make it easier for people to share ideas and stay connected with their friends and colleagues. It was even possible to bring together complete strangers around shared interests.
But the ubiquity of Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter has meant that these new technologies have crept into nearly every aspect of our lives. If you don’t take proper precautions, you could find yourself in serious trouble. Leaving aside online bullying, cyberstalking, defamation, and identity theft – all real dangers – we’re going to focus on the legal implications of posting to social media.
How Can Insurance Companies Use Social Media Against You?
Two aspects of social media are especially responsible for its adverse affects on our lives. First of all, whatever you post is public. Despite very detailed privacy features, once you’ve uploaded your content to a site such as Facebook or Twitter, it’s very easy for it to be reposted, shared, downloaded, screenshot, or forwarded, whether you consent to it or not.
Even private messages can easily be shared publicly. Many recent scandals have been instigated by messages that the sender intended to keep private. No matter what form of communication you are using, whether it’s email or social media or private messaging, you should always assume that as soon as you share something digitally, it can, and probably will, become public.
Secondly, the Internet is permanent. Once something has been uploaded, it is extremely difficult to erase it. Even if you take a post down or go so far as to delete your account, someone else could have already copied it. It will also be saved to company servers, meaning that it will be accessible to any law enforcement agency with a court order. In some cases, deleting your online profiles is considered “destroying evidence!”
Nowadays, police and prosecutors are turning to social media to search for evidence and build their cases. This means that anything you have ever posted online can be used against you. Furthermore, job recruiters and human resources personnel frequently scour your presence online before making any hiring decisions.
Needless to say, after a car accident in which you file a claim, the insurance companies involved will be scanning your social media feeds for any evidence to use against you. Are you pictured at a friend’s birthday party with a smile on your face? Clearly, you couldn’t have been suffering from whiplash. Never mind that you put on a happy expression for your friend’s sake and were in terrible pain!
To combat this, you need a car accident lawyer who has experience with the most recent technology and understands how to protect you from the insurance companies that want to take you down. At Jurewitz Law Group Injury & Accident Lawyers, we have the knowledge and resources to represent you in the most complicated cases related to modern digital technology. For a free consultation, call (888) 233-5020 today.
