Legal Risk of the Data Shadow
This article is the worst case scenario, scorched-earth situation that results from posting information on the web, living in the data age. There is a trend in my generational counter-parts to post anything to the internet, no matter how invective-laden, stream of consciousness, or embarrassing. And inevitably that has legal consequences.It shouldn’t come as a surprise that anything posted on the internet can be used to your detriment, be it a denial of insurance or a criminal prosecution. The entire concept of posting something is at odds with privacy, anyone looking hard enough can find anything.
But liability and criminal prosecution are not the only aspect of the legal system effected by social networks. I have a hard time believing that there isn’t at least one lawyer, somewhere in the country, who’s used the internet generally and social networks specifically to tweak their trial plan because of something they’ve found about a juror or judge. I recall a scene in Runaway Jury where a roomful of shady jury consultants frantically researches every potential juror, signaling the attorney whether to accept or not. You could do that with one person and Google now.
Granted, this is highly illegal, but how much longer can the ubiquity of computers and internet access be fought off? Eventually, practicality is going to set in, if people are constantly connected to the internet, then they are not going to want to shut off to go into court, entirely aside from the fact that lawyers aren’t going to want to be isolated from whatever utilities they have in their cloud of data and devices.
But returning to the effects of posting, we’re already seeing some changes of law. States are rushing to make cyber-bullying a crime, a tort action can’t be far behind, just as civil actions for identity theft followed criminal sanctions. The next step is treading into the realm of libel/slander.
It is honestly difficult to get your head around this, because the effects are potentially so far reaching. The posting of data is both probative of personal feelings, as well as impinging on other people. It will be interesting to watch the law develop.
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