November 26th, 2011
Judges Orders Divorcing Couple to Give Up Facebook Passwords
When many people file for divorce, the couple will present various forms of evidence in an effort to prove that one spouse is better suited than the other to take care of their children.
This evidence usually takes the form of testimony from friends and family, or evidence of past instances in which the parent served as either a positive or negative influence in the life of the children.
Rarely, though, have investigations into a parent’s fitness to be a legal guardian required snooping into social networking websites. A recent case, however, showed that relying on social networking information in child custody disputes may soon become more common in U.S. divorce courts.
According to a report from Forbes magazine, a divorcing couple in Connecticut was recently ordered by a judge to hand over their passwords to Facebook and other social networking websites.
Sources indicate that Stephen and Courtney Gallion have been engaged in a contentious dispute over who should have custody of their children.
In similar cases, each person’s divorce lawyer will often look at the opposing part’s Facebook page in order to glean some information about their social habits.
This information, in turn, is often presented to a divorce judge to serve as evidence of one party’s fitness to be a parent. Potentially negative information that attorneys may find on websites like Facebook includes evidence of drinking habits, dating tendencies, and other lifestyle factors.
The judge in the Gallion case, however, took the relatively extreme step of forcing both parties to hand over their passwords, which theoretically allows each spouse to learn information that may be concealed from public view.
According to Stephen Gallion’s attorney, the husband allegedly found incriminating evidence on his wife Courtney’s computer that shows she is unfit to be a parent. Shortly thereafter, Stephen asked Courtney for her passwords to her Facebook account, as well as two accounts on dating websites.
Courtney obliged, but she soon texted a friend and asked her to delete potentially harmful information on her dating accounts. After these shenanigans, the divorce judge stepped in and issued an injunction preventing both parties from altering their online profiles during the divorce proceedings.
Oddly, while the judge ordered the password swap, such an action actually violates Facebook’s privacy policy, which forbids users from sharing passwords with each other.
The judge may not have recognized that his order violated the company’s terms of service, but he did warn the Gallions that they were not to tamper with each other’s Facebook information. The password swap was strictly to allow Courtney and Stephen to view each other’s information, not change it.
So, while the Gallions continue to fight their way through court, other couples thinking about divorce might be wise to watch what information they put on Facebook, lest it be used against them in court.
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