Facebook Successful In Dispute
A workers compensation dispute between the airliner (employer) verses the flight attendant (employee) resulted in the airliner seeking a subpoena seeking:
....all documents, electronic or otherwise, related directly or indirectly, to all activities, writings, photos, comments, e-mails, and/or postings" on Hensley's Facebook account.
However, Facebook resisted the subpoena on the grounds of privacy rights and was eventually cited in contempt of court.
The article states:
Facebook's response to Tabb sent last week says that "users such as Ms. Hensley rely on Facebook to protect their data and vigorously enforce the privacy decisions they make on Facebook." It adds: "Courts have interpreted the ECPA to prohibit services such as Facebook from producing a non-consenting subscriber's communications even when those communications are sought pursuant to a court order or subpoena."
The party seeking the documents backed down.
Recently it was reported that the subpoena would not be necessary after all as the Plaintiff lawyer agreed to a release executed by the Plaintiff authorizing Facebook to disclose.
This case is different from other cases involving Facebook in the context of litigation in that the service provider itself was being asked to disclose and preserve material on an individual. As opposed to a party going before a court and seeking production from the Plaintiff.
Of course, requesting a Plaintiff to either preserve and or produce a Facebook profile could prove to be useless. It’s easy for someone to pull down their page or delete incriminating photos and only produce harmless evidence.
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