Could Your Tech Be Hurting You?: Facebook
It seems that in recent years, everything is becoming digital. You can do any number of things from your smartphone or computer that had to be accomplished with face time, or personal interactions, in the past. Everything from buying groceries to dating can be done online, and the disability insurance claims process is no exception. This week, we’re starting a series that takes a look at three ways that the modern age has changed how you and your disability insurance company can approach your claims.
First, we’re going to start with a form of social media that almost everyone has: Facebook. It may be a great way to share photos and keep in touch with old friends, but Facebook could be hurting your insurance claim in a way that perhaps you weren’t aware of.
We have written at length on ways that insurance companies can use surveillance to often unfairly deny people their benefits. From stakeouts to tailing to GPS tracking, insurance companies have been known to do some pretty unsavory things in the name of saving money. With the rise of different forms of social media, this gives insurance companies another tool to monitor you and your activities in the hope that you do something that would allow them to deny your claim.
We have also discussed how posting pictures or statuses on Facebook can lead to insurance companies denying claims because it appears that you are leading an active lifestyle, but you probably didn’t know that even a deactivated account can be brought up in litigation. In the case of a Mr. Brannon Crowe, he was ordered to bring up 4,000 pages of his entire Facebook page–one that was deactivated four days after the order.
While Mr. Crowe may not have been trying to hide anything, and most people aren’t, the message is still important. Not only is it crucial to keep your social media accounts free from any information that an insurance company can misconstrue to claim you aren’t disabled, but if you are really concerned about surveillance, deactivating won’t do the trick. Since deleting your Facebook results in a loss of all the networks and relationships that you have built over the years, we certainly aren’t saying that you should delete it and swear off of social media. We simply advise that you are careful about what you post, and if you have any questions about what this could be, feel free to comment or email us!
