Facebook, social networking and insurance fraud

Today we all see social networking sites as a stage where we all play a certain role. It does not matter whether you are the lead actor or the man in the tree costume as long as you are up there under the spotlight.

But fame has its drawbacks, what we have not realized yet is that social networking sites contain information about you that is open to people you know and those you don't. So what role does social networking really play in our society and why has it become the center of everything happening in the world?

Well when princes sought to over throw kings, mobs sought vengeance and countries planned invasions what was their most important asset? The informant- and that is exactly what the social networking sites have become in our time.

Facebook by far is one of the most popular social networking sites on earth and has made unprecedented impact in the global arena.

But when many people boast about its ability to demolish boundaries and barriers within our world they do not realize that this very ability can be their doom.

Although people using Facebook can chose to keep their information private from other 'users' of the website they cannot keep it private from Facebook itself and if need be Facebook can reveal  that information!

It is important to note that i am not accusing Facebook of taking any such action rather Facebook's privacy policy has withheld tremendous pressure and yet stands firm but is that satisfactory?

It may be true that due to the privacy policy Facebook (or any social network) cannot give out information about its user without consent but it does not stop others from viewing their pictures and in some cases status updates and personal information open to public. And we all know that picture can speak louder than words.

Recently many insurance companies have started to use Facebook as a source to investigate insurance fraud.

There are many people out there who put forward false claims to take advantage of their insurance and gain unearned cash or benefits, using a social networking site such as Facebook insurance companies can verify their claims and needs of assistance.

Let us say that John Doe had an accident and claimed insurance for the injuries he suffered, now John Doe continues to collect insurance for his injuries but posts pictures on Facebook showing him winning a trophy for the recent volleyball tournament.

By just viewing his pictures insurance companies can sue our John Doe for insurance fraud.  I will emphasize again that in many of the cases of insurance fraud Facebook has refused to give up all the information regarding the accused even when the courts have threatened to put heavy fines on the website for holding crucial evidence. But the damage is done the profile picture is out there and John Doe is in trouble.

However, while it may be true that picture speaks louder than words, picture by itself can be extremely misleading.

It could be that our John Doe had made prior commitments and could not back out of the tournament or it could be that after taking his victory picture he spent his next week in bed popping pain killers one after the other.

But the picture cannot share any such information. It is common for people to try to portray are different image on social networking sites, even if things are not doing so well in their lives they might not be willing to let other people know;  we all want to put up a good face in society don't we?

The question is can insurance companies be allowed to use such evidence in civil courts? Many countries provide certain civil rights to its citizen to insure their safety and protection, among such many include the right to privacy and the requirement of an official warrant to search and investigate a suspect before putting forward any evidence in the court of law.

Surfing through the profiles of people of social networking sites require no warrants in the present time and evidence gained through such investigation can be challenged by the accused as the invasion of their privacy.

Like nuclear fusion the evolution of internet has become an unstoppable chain reaction and its speed has surpassed that of the law makers.

While the judges ponder over the future of privacy laws we as users of social networking sites should be careful about what they chose to put of their profiles.

I do realize that some of our readers may think this to be justice done for those who are involved in insurance fraud but the point is if Facebook chooses to provide access to information about its users to insurance companies over insurance fraud-who will it open its doors to next time?

Similar Articles:

Embellishments to Social Networking Sites

Benefits of using Online Social Networks in Job Search

Social networking for married People

The booming mobile social network industry