TECHNOLOGY AND PRIVACY SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS USED IN INSURANCE CLAIM – MN LAWYER
Technology can be both helpful — and scary. There was an interesting article recently in the StarTribune about police use of unmanned aerial drones. Drones were initially used to revolutionize modern warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan. In North Dakota, the police used an unmanned drone to assist in the arrest of a U.S. citizen on his own property. Our lawyers have seen increasing use of technology in our personal injury cases. Particularly spying on people’s social media.
Drones have many good uses. For example, scouting rural areas for lost children or identifying hot spots in forest fires before they get out of control. However, the use of drones to spy on people on their own private property raises privacy concerns and is even scary. Interesting article below:
http://www.startribune.com/local/163304886.html
YES THE INSURANCE COMPANY MAY BE SPYING ON YOU
We are sure you can think of many other types of technology that place privacy at risk. Attorneys are concerned the insurance companies will use drones to spy on our clients. They may use drones to gather evidence against people for a future lawsuit. For example, trying to get pictures of someone claiming to have a bad back taking the garbage out. They have done it in the past with private investigators who have followed our clients after an accident.
We can foresee personal injury lawyers using drones as well. For example, to get pictures and videos of an accident scene and the route that was driven prior to a car accident.
Of course, the most common use of technology to get personal information on people is through social media. Our accident injury lawyers have had many cases in Minnesota where the insurance company or their lawyer will investigate our client’s social medial. For example, they will go through our client’s Facebook page to look for information harmful to their case. They look for photos of our injured client doing activities or talking about activities despite being injured in an accident.
When social media accounts are open to public view, it is very easy for the insurance company attorney to do this. People like to post their activities and information about their lives on Facebook and Instagram. We always warn clients that the insurance company will go through their social media posts. They even look at the dating apps. Of course, they pick out the ones that help their case without context. Our attorneys have seen this done many times.