People have files claims like that - the problem arises in that the people haven't made those posts private and therefore shouldn't expect any reasonable claim of privacy for those comments. This is why Twitter isn't included in this whole thing, it's all public.
However if they employer is demanding access to your private Facebook you're more likely to have a case, if they have obtained private messages to a third party then you have a case. It's all about how you've secured your media. Also your lawyer needs to be good at online issues as they're still very loose and being hashed out.
On the other side we now have several cases in the UK where people are getting prosecuted for hate speech and incitement to violence and stuff for stuff on facebook and twitter. Again this is a very new thing and feeling out the laws are a long and arduous process.
And again to your last point - It depends on how you've gone about securing that information on your profile. You may not have stated that you're gay on your page but they could infer it from a picture a friend you have has tagged you in of you kissing your partner at an event you were at. That is certainly not you offering up that information to the world. You may not have posted you were pregnant on your social media but that one family member that doesn't know how the internet really works has congratulated you on some random post's comments (my MIL comments on anything to give me messages for her son @_@) which then explodes.
You may be schtum but other people don't usually get the memo. I have a bunch of friends I had to tell off and make delete posts where they'd "checked in" to my house showing it on the map to all their friends and sundry. I don't want my Address anywhere near facebook. All it takes is one well meaning but thoughtless person.
ETA: Forgot to say it's different again between already being employed and being an interview candidate
Hmm, I forgot about other people posting sensitive information about you, that's certainly true. Although, I believe Facebook privacy controls allow for this to be mitigated or even solved completely IE: you can control who can and/or can't post to your wall, you can control who can and/or can't tag you, etc. I've also noticed Facebook has been getting much better lately at informing people on how they can protect their privacy and adding more options to their already extensive repertoire of privacy options.
Who does the fault fall on if all of the tools to make sure an employer cannot read your private information are available but you still fail to do so and let it remain public? I think we've all had enough warning and high profile privacy scares (Especially on Facebook) and whatnot to know that privacy on the Internet is important and can and should be watched over closely.
Additionally, what with all of the multitudes of privacy scandals and NSA stuff that has been very high profile news for the past few years, I'd argue that there is and should never be absolutely any expectation of privacy on the internet (Unless, maybe, if you're encrypting said communications). It's comparable to having a very loud and very public conversation about private matters with your best friend in the middle of the street, and then complaining that someone was listening to you. Does anybody think that Facebook can't read any and all messages that pass through it's servers? There is no privacy there and only a fool would expect it IMO.
EDIT: Forgot to say I agree that if an employer demands for you to share your Facebook info with them then all bets are off, they are certainly invading your privacy at that point.
EDIT EDIT: Also, Schtum. That is a fantastic word that I've never heard before! I'm definitely going to try to add it to my vocabulary, so thanks for that :)
it's a good Brit/yiddish word :) I like that and Schlep ("i have to schlep over to the shops" as in a journey that's unwanted and tedious xD)
Yeah i dunno who the fault falls on, it's part of the process of feeling out these new rules for online cultures. Keeping in mind that the majority of the population still remembers a time when being on the internet meant no-one could use the phone and when the internet came on AOL CDs.
Edit: It's like when people discovered snapchats weren't as private and ephemeral as everyone thought they were. Hilarious
Hmm, I do like Schlep as well but where I'm from we just say "I have to drag my ass over to the shops" which I think I prefer :D
Fleshing out online rules and regulations is definitely a process, albeit one that I think needs to be started on and completed ASAP before some serious and irreversible damage is done to a lot of innocent and people that are ignorant to the implications that the new tech culture is bringing with it. It's actually kind of shameful IMO that we haven't figured this out yet and put a plan into action that would at least get us started on it.
And I think it's good that a majority of people were present for and remember the birth of the Internet. It makes us more informed on the matter (Or at least its history) and will hopefully allow us to make more informed decisions about it.
ah see i think the opposite given some of the bizarre legislation people are coming up with especially with regards to RIAA's war on piracy and the WikiLeaks kerfuffle. It's obvious to me that the people trying to regulate the internet and make these laws have absolutely no idea what is going on.
the whole thing to ban or otherwise negate encryption practises when it comes to the police or government is laughable and scary at the same time.
Coupled with the recent news story about that kid who was prosecuted and is a registered sex offender for having a picture of himself naked as a minor I am not at all confident in the current generation's ability to sensibly hash out the laws we need. It['s not shameful really though; tech moves so quickly! In just 15 years I've moved from a nokia 3210, with snake as it's game, ringtones I had to text a number off the tv to get or figure out and program myself, 2 or 3 lines of text and 140 characters per text message to a Lumia 920 which i can play the friggan Sims on, remote into my desktop and control (we can play ff14 this way, it's insane), i can browse the net, chat for free, take better pictures on it than i could on any camera i had previously owned. My ringtone doesn't even matter because everyone skypes me on my phone, i have my email there, I can use all of that stuff in the middle of nowhere (except my dad's ffs)
I didn't get a phone til i was 14, these days parents send their 7 year olds out with a phone just in case of emergency. Hell you can get phones now that only call 4 preset numbers and have no screens or anything especially designed for younger children in daycare (or to torture your teenager LMAO).
The main issue with us remembering the birth of the internet is "golden age" thinking where you tend to remember the old days as being somehow better and simpler. Wasn't life better and simpler when you had rotary dial phones? not really. I wouldn't trade my smart phone and fibre optic cables and my tablet for anything.
...
Jeezo we've gone so far off topic xD great discussing this with you though :D
Edit: Hell we can't even convince the government that the Internet should be a utility and not a luxury
People have files claims like that - the problem arises in that the people haven't made those posts private and therefore shouldn't expect any reasonable claim of privacy for those comments. This is why Twitter isn't included in this whole thing, it's all public.
However if they employer is demanding access to your private Facebook you're more likely to have a case, if they have obtained private messages to a third party then you have a case. It's all about how you've secured your media. Also your lawyer needs to be good at online issues as they're still very loose and being hashed out.
On the other side we now have several cases in the UK where people are getting prosecuted for hate speech and incitement to violence and stuff for stuff on facebook and twitter. Again this is a very new thing and feeling out the laws are a long and arduous process.
And again to your last point - It depends on how you've gone about securing that information on your profile. You may not have stated that you're gay on your page but they could infer it from a picture a friend you have has tagged you in of you kissing your partner at an event you were at. That is certainly not you offering up that information to the world. You may not have posted you were pregnant on your social media but that one family member that doesn't know how the internet really works has congratulated you on some random post's comments (my MIL comments on anything to give me messages for her son @_@) which then explodes.
You may be schtum but other people don't usually get the memo. I have a bunch of friends I had to tell off and make delete posts where they'd "checked in" to my house showing it on the map to all their friends and sundry. I don't want my Address anywhere near facebook. All it takes is one well meaning but thoughtless person.
ETA: Forgot to say it's different again between already being employed and being an interview candidate
Hmm, I forgot about other people posting sensitive information about you, that's certainly true. Although, I believe Facebook privacy controls allow for this to be mitigated or even solved completely IE: you can control who can and/or can't post to your wall, you can control who can and/or can't tag you, etc. I've also noticed Facebook has been getting much better lately at informing people on how they can protect their privacy and adding more options to their already extensive repertoire of privacy options.
Who does the fault fall on if all of the tools to make sure an employer cannot read your private information are available but you still fail to do so and let it remain public? I think we've all had enough warning and high profile privacy scares (Especially on Facebook) and whatnot to know that privacy on the Internet is important and can and should be watched over closely.
Additionally, what with all of the multitudes of privacy scandals and NSA stuff that has been very high profile news for the past few years, I'd argue that there is and should never be absolutely any expectation of privacy on the internet (Unless, maybe, if you're encrypting said communications). It's comparable to having a very loud and very public conversation about private matters with your best friend in the middle of the street, and then complaining that someone was listening to you. Does anybody think that Facebook can't read any and all messages that pass through it's servers? There is no privacy there and only a fool would expect it IMO.
EDIT: Forgot to say I agree that if an employer demands for you to share your Facebook info with them then all bets are off, they are certainly invading your privacy at that point.
EDIT EDIT: Also, Schtum. That is a fantastic word that I've never heard before! I'm definitely going to try to add it to my vocabulary, so thanks for that :)
it's a good Brit/yiddish word :) I like that and Schlep ("i have to schlep over to the shops" as in a journey that's unwanted and tedious xD)
Yeah i dunno who the fault falls on, it's part of the process of feeling out these new rules for online cultures. Keeping in mind that the majority of the population still remembers a time when being on the internet meant no-one could use the phone and when the internet came on AOL CDs.
Edit: It's like when people discovered snapchats weren't as private and ephemeral as everyone thought they were. Hilarious
Hmm, I do like Schlep as well but where I'm from we just say "I have to drag my ass over to the shops" which I think I prefer :D
Fleshing out online rules and regulations is definitely a process, albeit one that I think needs to be started on and completed ASAP before some serious and irreversible damage is done to a lot of innocent and people that are ignorant to the implications that the new tech culture is bringing with it. It's actually kind of shameful IMO that we haven't figured this out yet and put a plan into action that would at least get us started on it.
And I think it's good that a majority of people were present for and remember the birth of the Internet. It makes us more informed on the matter (Or at least its history) and will hopefully allow us to make more informed decisions about it.
ah see i think the opposite given some of the bizarre legislation people are coming up with especially with regards to RIAA's war on piracy and the WikiLeaks kerfuffle. It's obvious to me that the people trying to regulate the internet and make these laws have absolutely no idea what is going on.
the whole thing to ban or otherwise negate encryption practises when it comes to the police or government is laughable and scary at the same time.
Coupled with the recent news story about that kid who was prosecuted and is a registered sex offender for having a picture of himself naked as a minor I am not at all confident in the current generation's ability to sensibly hash out the laws we need. It['s not shameful really though; tech moves so quickly! In just 15 years I've moved from a nokia 3210, with snake as it's game, ringtones I had to text a number off the tv to get or figure out and program myself, 2 or 3 lines of text and 140 characters per text message to a Lumia 920 which i can play the friggan Sims on, remote into my desktop and control (we can play ff14 this way, it's insane), i can browse the net, chat for free, take better pictures on it than i could on any camera i had previously owned. My ringtone doesn't even matter because everyone skypes me on my phone, i have my email there, I can use all of that stuff in the middle of nowhere (except my dad's ffs)
I didn't get a phone til i was 14, these days parents send their 7 year olds out with a phone just in case of emergency. Hell you can get phones now that only call 4 preset numbers and have no screens or anything especially designed for younger children in daycare (or to torture your teenager LMAO).
The main issue with us remembering the birth of the internet is "golden age" thinking where you tend to remember the old days as being somehow better and simpler. Wasn't life better and simpler when you had rotary dial phones? not really. I wouldn't trade my smart phone and fibre optic cables and my tablet for anything.
...
Jeezo we've gone so far off topic xD great discussing this with you though :D
Edit: Hell we can't even convince the government that the Internet should be a utility and not a luxury
Thank you as well for a very enjoyable discussion :)