One of the most popular social networking sites currently running is Facebook. If most of us are not members there, we most likely know someone that is a member. Review any of your friends’ home pages, and you might be surprised at what you can find out about them and what pictures they have posted on Facebook. At first glance, all of your friends’ information seems relatively harmless, primarily because you know this person. But how innocent is this information since it can be used against someone to deny them employment or in a legal action?

Perhaps not surprisingly, the answer is yes on both counts. Certainly, in these modern times, an employer might search someone on Facebook or another social networking site to see what the person is all about. If that person has posted unflattering information or photographs of themselves, an employer might decide not to hire that individual. This could also work against a current employee: if an employer discovered an employee was posting confidential or unflattering information about the employer, this might be grounds for terminating a person’s employment.

However, Facebook and other social networking sites can also be used in a court of law. Information posted on a social networking site can be copied, downloaded, and entered into evidence. Information that conflicts with a claim, such as where a person claims to be injured but then has photos posted of them doing physical activity on their social networking site, certainly can be used in court to undermine a person’s credibility or claim. And the use of such information does not apply only to a litigant; information on social networking sites can be used against witnesses to undermine their credibility as well.

There is no sure-fire way to stop someone from accessing your Facebook web page. Certainly, one should check and double check their privacy settings to ensure that only certain people can view all of the information a person chooses to place on their Facebook web site page. However, this may not be a complete cure-all. Perhaps the best advice goes back to something most of our parents told us as children: don’t post anything on Facebook that you would be ashamed for anyone to see. Perhaps only then can one have some semblance of protection from prying eyes.