Privacy and Social Networking
In
Beye v. Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, a court addressed an issue that will likely recur -- the impact on a person's privacy of their voluntary disclosure of sensitive information on a social networking site. In this case the court ordered the plaintiffs to produce evidence that was posted on social networking sites, even if it reflected sensitive medical conditions (allegedly eating disorders in this matter), because of the diminished expectation of privacy due to the posting and sharing of the information.
This principle was recently reaffirmed by a court in California in a case involving MySpace. In Moreno v. Hanford Sentinel, Inc., the Court of Appeal affirmed a demurrer to an invasion of privacy claim because the plaintiff in the case had posted the material that served as the basis of the invasion of privacy claim on MySpace (though it was subsequently removed).
Both cases demonstrate that privacy rights, even regarding sensitive medical information, can be
impacted by the use of social networking sites.