Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
The. court's. ruling. was. based. on. its. interpretation. of. the.
Stored.Communications.Act..The.Stored.Communications.Act.
is.a.federal.law.that.basically.guarantees.the.privacy.of.commu-
nications.stored.on.electronic.media.depending.on.the.method.
of. communications,. transmission,. and. storage. of. that. data..
The.act.requires.the.operators.of.that.storage.media.to.obtain.
permission.from.the.originators.of.the.data.before.releasing.it.
With.that.in.mind,.the.court.in.this.case.ruled.that.depend-
ing.on.the.plaintiff's.privacy.settings,.the.data.requested.by.the.
defendant.in.its.subpoena.would.probably.be.considered.private.
However.(and.this.is.an.important.qualiication),.the.court.
also.said.that.if.the.plaintiff's.privacy.settings.were.adjusted.in.
a.way.that.allowed.the.general.public.to.access.the.messages.
the.court.might.allow.acquisition.of.those.messages.
There.is.an.important.lesson.here.for.those.of.you.using.
social. media. or. for. any. organizations. that. either. allow. or.
encourage.their.employees.to.use.social.media..It.is.impera-
tive.to.be.aware.that.your.data.will.only.be.considered.private.
if.you.have.actually.taken.the.correct.steps.to.ensure.it.is.not.
available.to.the.general.public..Once.again.this.takes.us.back.
to.one.of.the.main.themes.of.this.topic:.your.actions.are.what.
will.really.count.in.the.end.
1.2.3.3. .Romano.v..Steelcase.(N.Y..
Sup..Ct..2010)—Another.
Social.Media.Privacy.Case
In. this. case,. the. defendant,. Steelcase,. sought. the. plaintiff's.
current.and.historical.Facebook.and.MySpace.pages.includ-
ing.deleted.information.
The. plaintiff. argued. that. its. social. media. information.
should.be.considered.private..But.here.again.we.have.a.good.
example. of. how. different. judges. will. make. different. rulings.
based.on.the.facts.of.the.case.and.their.own.understanding.
of.the.prevailing.laws.
This.time.the.court.ruled.that.the.plaintiff.had.no.reason-
able.expectation.of.privacy.because.Facebook.and.MySpace.
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