The following describes the Social Media Disclosure
for our website.
Social Media Issue
We live in an interesting
time when privacy rights are championed alongside an unprecedented
voluntary willingness of people to share their most intimate and
superfluous life details with the world, even in places such as our
website. While apparently benign on the surface, the dangers of
unrestrained public disclosure of sensitive information is beginning to
surface.
Key social media players are being sued for
unauthorized or abusive use/misuse of personal information. Failure to
protect and warn are likely going to be focal factors. Lawsuits are
filed seeking damages for statements held to be responsible for people’s
death or suicide. Bloggers presuming to operate under an unfettered
freedom of speech or greater latitude offered to members of the press
are losing civil cases for defamation, slander, libel, and so on.
As social media rapidly advances to allow more technologically
sophisticated and easy dissemination, the simultaneous fallout of
revelation without boundaries is mounting. Thus, a sober approach to the
benefits of social media, while sidestepping the perils of imprudent
disclosure, can facilitate an enjoyable online experience, without the
consequences of excess, in settings such as our own website.
Presence/Scope of Social Media
You should assume that social media is
in use on our website. A simple click of a button to endorse a person,
product, or service is building a cumulative profile about you, which
you should always assume can be discovered by others. Attempting to
share a website with someone, whether by direct press of a button or
else by email forwarding facilitated on a website, you should assume
that this may not stop with the intended recipient, and that this can
generate information about you that could be seen by a veritable
infinite number of people. Such a domino effect could initiate right
here on our website.
Something as simple as a blog comment
provides the opportunity for knee-jerk reactions that can become public
and may not truly represent a position (at least in strength or
severity) that you might hold after a period of more reasoned
contemplation. You should also note that the ease of accessing one site
through the login credentials of another, or the use of a global login
for access to multiple sites can accumulate a dossier on you and your
online behavior that may reveal more information to unintended parties
than you might realize or want. Any or all of these features could exist
on our website at one time or another.
These few examples
illustrate some possible ways that social media can exist, though it is
not an exhaustive list and new technologies will render this list
outdated quickly. The objective is to realize the reach of social media,
its widespread presence on websites in various forms (including this
website), and develop a responsible approach to using it.
Protecting Others
You should recognize the fact that divulgences made
in and on social media platforms on this website and others are rarely
constrained just to you. Disclosures are commonly made about group
matters that necessarily affect and impact other people. Other
disclosures are expressly about third parties, sometimes with little
discretion. What can appear funny in one moment can be tragic in the
next. And a subtle “public” retaliation can have lifetime repercussions.
Ideal use of social media on our website would confine your
disclosures primarily to matters pertaining to you, not others. If in
doubt, it’s best to err on the side of non-disclosure. It’s doubtful the
disclosure is so meaningful that it cannot be offset by the precaution
of acting to protect the best interests of someone who is involuntarily
being exposed by your decision to disclose something on our website (or
another).
Protecting Yourself
You should likewise pause to
consider the long-term effects of a split-second decision to publicly
share private information about yourself on our website. Opinions,
likes, dislikes, preferences, and otherwise can change. Openly divulging
perspectives that you hold today, may conflict with your developing
views into the futures. Yet, the “new you” will always stand juxtaposed
against the prior declarations you made that are now concretized as part
of your public profile. While the contents of your breakfast may hold
little long-term impact, other data likewise readily shared can have
consequences that could conceivably impact your ability to obtain
certain employment or hinder other life experiences and ambitions.
As with sharing information about other people, extreme caution
should be used before revealing information about yourself. If in doubt,
it’s likely best not to do it. The short term gain, if any, could
readily be outweighed by later consequences. Finally, you should note
that we are not responsible for removing content once shared, and we may
not be able to do so.
Restrictions on Use of Social Media Data
You, as a visitor to our website, are not permitted to “mine” social
media or other platforms contained herein for personal information
related to others. Even where people have publicly displayed data, you
should not construe that as though you have the liberty to capture,
reproduce, or reuse that information. Any use of social media or related
platforms on our website are for interactive use only, relevant only
during the website visit.
Accuracy of Social Media Data
As
any social media platform is built on user-generated content, you should
consider this fact in seeking to determine the authenticity of anything
you read. We are not responsible for verifying any user-generated
content for accuracy. A best practices policy would be to view all such
content as strictly opinion, not fact.
Potential Issues of
Liability
You should also be mindful of the fact that your words
could trigger liability for harm caused to others. While you have the
right to free speech, you do not have the right to damage other people.
Under basic principles of tort law, you are always responsible,
personally, for situations where either:
1. you were required to
act, but did not (i.e. – some “duty of care”)
2. your were required
to refrain from acting, but did not (i.e. – slander, defamation, etc.)
These “sins of omission and commission” could cause problems for
you, irrespective of whether you assert you are conducting business
under the guise of one or more business entities. Illegal and unethical
conduct, when done in the name of a corporation or LLC, is still illegal
and unethical conduct. As it is rarely part of a business plan to engage
in illegal and unethical conduct, you are doubtfully operating in any
official capacity, but rather, perhaps, leveraging that capacity to
effectuate personal wrongdoing. You should consult a licensed attorney
if you wish legal advice as to the (potential) ramification of your
situation or legal problems stemming from this website or another.
CHANGE NOTICE: As with any of our administrative and legal
notice pages, the contents of this page can and will change over time.
Accordingly, this page could read differently as of your very next
visit. These changes are necessitated, and carried out, in order to
protect you and our website. If this page is important to you, you
should check back frequently as no other notice of changed content will
be provided either before or after the change takes effect.
COPYRIGHT WARNING: The legal notices and administrative pages on this
website, including this one, have been diligently drafted by an
attorney. We have paid to license the use of these legal notices and
administrative pages for your protection and ours. This material may not
be used in any way for any reason and unauthorized use is policed via
Copyscape to detect violators.
QUESTIONS/COMMENTS/CONCERNS: If
you have any questions about the contents of this page, or simply wish
to reach us for any other reason, you may do so by using our Contact
information.
