Privacy and Divorce: Technology Makes It Easier but Not Legal to Snoop

October 20, 2012

Privacy and Divorce: Technology Makes It Easier but Not Legal to Snoop

Couples contemplating divorce and going through divorce today can more easily snoop through their partner's information than ever before because of e-mail, online bank accounts and social media. Even though it may be easier to get a hold of a partner's information than before, spying and the use of such information is not necessarily legal or even helpful during the divorce process. In some instances the growth of information technology has outpaced the law, and often individuals are left wondering what to do.

It's common for married couples today to share laptops and even private passwords with each other, and it's also common to share personal information over Facebook or social media sites. Some individuals may want to use the information to gain a perceived advantage during divorce while others may simply want to vent or show off their new lives on social media sites. But, many couples who go through divorce are not familiar with how privacy law may impact the use of that shared or private information during divorce or how sharing information over Facebook may impact their divorce.

Privacy Laws Offer Protection of Private Information During Divorce

Most states like Florida have various invasion of privacy laws that aim to keep a person's private words and actions private and if broken give the victim legal recourse for action. For example, the mere intrusion into someone's private affairs, such as accessing private records without publication, may violate the law.

In the context of divorce, invasion of privacy quickly becomes sticky because a wife may know a husband's password before the divorce proceeding begins. In a situation where the divorcing partners know and regularly access each other's email, it may be legal for both to continue to access the email accounts during the divorce. But, other more malicious methods of gathering information such as installing snooping software is likely to be more troublesome legally.

A malicious tactic that violates a reasonable person's sense of privacy may lead to criminal and civil liability. Moreover, if information about a partner is gathered illegally during divorce, the information may in the end be useless because a judge may not allow its use in court. To avoid such privacy issues among divorcing couples, it's often advised that divorcing individuals change all their passwords. Discussions or postings on Facebook, Twitter or other social media are another matter.

Information Made Public Is Admissible in Court

A posting on Facebook or other social media site is accessible by the public and therefore is not usually protected by privacy law because there is no expectation of privacy in a publically shared comment. It's as if an individual walks outside her front door and begins to publically share private information. Therefore a private matter that is publically shared over social media is no longer private. Any discussion of matters that could become relevant to divorce proceedings should not be shared over social media sites. A public or private item shared over social media may be admissible in court.

If an individual going through divorce, suspects that his or her partner is withholding information, the individual should work with his or her attorney who can use the court system to legally gather the information.

Article provided by Silverman Vorhis & Doan
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