WARNING: Facebook is Not Private, Especially in Divorce Litigation

Facebook is perhaps the largest and, at least among adults, the most frequently used social networking site.  Users willingly and regularly post information regarding friends, hobbies, locations, relationship status, likes/dislikes, interests, favorites, photos, and the like.  In many ways, a Facebook profile becomes a personal vault of information.  As a result of all the information on Facebook, the profiles can be a treasure trove in the divorce setting. Some common examples of this might include:

• Pictures posted of a parent with an alcoholic beverage when alcohol abuse is at issue;
• Posting pictures of your child on Facebook and/or a dating social media site while you are going through a divorce with custody issues;
• Pictures of you in a compromising circumstance;
• Pictures of illegal drug use/paraphernalia or comments supporting illegal drug use, especially when drug use is at issue; or
• Statements about hidden assets.

Even if the privacy settings in Facebook are supposed to keep your information private, is it really private in the context of a divorce? Recent cases on the issue across the country show a trend toward virtually no expectation of privacy on Facebook – despite the privacy settings or safeguards to keep the information posted private.  While at this time Illinois courts have not yet addressed this issue expressly, the rulings set forth below are a warning of the risks associated with posting on Facebook and are indicative of where Illinois courts may ultimately go.

In April 2015 a man in Texas was jailed for refusing to turn over Facebook and Twitter passwords in a business bankruptcy case. (1)   He maintained Facebook and Twitter accounts for his business and while the accounts initially had the business name, he thought of the accounts as his own and injected his views on them.  At the time his case was in court he had deleted the business name from the accounts and substituted his own.  In court, a federal bankruptcy judge found the accounts to be business assets and ordered him to turn over the passwords.  When he refused, he was sent to jail for contempt of court.

While on its face this case was related to a business, it is not the first time a judge has ordered the turnover of passwords.  In what is perhaps one of the most invasive rulings on access to a Facebook account, in September 2011 a divorcing couple in Connecticut was ordered to provide passwords to their “Facebook and dating website[s]” to their spouse’s attorney! (2)   While the passwords were only to be provided to the other spouse’s attorney, it actually provided the other party with complete access to each party’s Facebook account.