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Would your friends foreclose on you? Maybe. Maybe not. Unfortunately, your friends are not the only ones viewing your profile or Facebook or many other popular social networking sites. Creditors and collection agencies are, too.
MSNBC reports that at least two Facebook members have been sent legal notices via their Facebook account. In what appears to be the first case of it’s kind, an Australian law firm used Facebook to identify and contact individuals who had not responded to conventional methods such as phone calls and letters.
?We’re not aware of it having occurred in the past, it’s really just an extension of methods that have been allowed by the court, including email and text message in circumstances where the conventional courses are unavailable to us,? Mark McCormack, a lawyer representing MKM the non-bank lender seeking to serve the members told MSNBC.
Australian courts have allowed legally binding papers to be served on individuals via email and text messages in the past, according to the BBC. McCormick located one of the members through her Facebook profile, identified her by the personal information she disclosed and discovered the other member was among her ?friends?. The court did stipulate that the summons had to be sent to a private email address not posted on their Wall or delivered in such a way that other people visiting their profiles and pages could also view their contents.
That such communications must remain private is some consolation for consumers who find themselves at the mercy of collection agencies. One wonders how long it will last, given that several collection agencies have a reputation for not just annoying the individuals who owe but also their friends, families and employers in their efforts to collect.
So what, if anything, can individuals do to protect themselves? Well, the first obvious action is not to default on loans. Here’s an idea: use cash to make purchases and pay bills. Yes, such a thing is still possible. It’s not terribly convenient, but then neither are collection notices. Neither paying cash nor collection notice do much for your credit rating, of course, but at least if you are paying cash your payment is credited immediately rather than the 1 ? 14 day delay that can occur with other forms of payment.
Individuals concerned about being located through social networking sites should probably re-evaluate why they joined such sites and the nature of the information they are posting there. They should also be sure to read the company’s privacy agreement thoroughly before agreeing to it. Way back in 2002 the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) offered 12 tips for protecting your privacy online. Seven years later, they still apply. The most significant being ?Do not reveal personal information inadvertently.? Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIN and other social networking sites all offer some level of privacy control which users are advised to tailor to their needs. Only in very rare cases, such as a band or author or artist whose profile is created and primarily used for promotion of their work, should be open and even then the personal details needed to create the profile should be sheilded from general public view.
Creditors are not the only potentially nefarious people lurking in the cyber-world. There are identity thieves, stalkers, and others having ill intent towards any trusting soul. And lest the criminal element feel to secure behind their virtual anonymity, there are also law enforcement agencies, government officials and other trying to police the information superhighway. As with most public places, the moral is ?assume everyone can and will see what you are doing? and probably tell someone else about it, too.
Last 3 posts by Jay Hammond
- Mortgage modification law threatens right to representation in California - July 15th, 2009
- How Cities & States are coping with foreclosure - July 10th, 2009
- Freddie Mac educates borrowers via YouTube - July 9th, 2009
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