COA: Private Facebook Entries are Discoverable

By Andrea Schillaci, Esq. and Howard B. Altman, Esq.

In Foreman v. Henkin, the Court of Appeals ruled that a user’s designating her Facebook profile as “private” does not shield it from disclosure. Instead, objective standards of privacy dictate what is and is not discoverable. The account must still be relevant to be discoverable (such as when the plaintiff puts their pre- and post-accident condition or activity level in issue), and demands must be reasonable in scope, but the plaintiff cannot pick and choose what to disclose by labeling it “private.” See our summary here.