However, citing an opinion from the Philadelphia Bar Association, the committee says it is not acceptable to deceptively friend request a person to obtain that information, nor can an attorney ask another to access otherwise unobtainable information on their behalf.
The ever-growing use in sites like Facebook has certainly become of interest to the law.
Back in 2009, police used Facebook to set up an online sting operation in order to find suspects charged with vandalism. Three weeks after setting up the page with the suspects pictures, police received tips from other users leading them to the three men who were then charged with burglary and criminal mischief. Police say that merely putting their pictures on a TV news program was most likely not enough to find the suspects. That is just one case of Facebook justice among dozens of others.
Opinion 843, released by the New York Bar Association, states that,
''A Lawyer who represents a client in a pending litigation, and who has access to the Facebook or Myspace Network used by another party in litigation, may access and review the public social network pages of that party to search for potential impeachment material.The opinion released by the New York Bar is thought to be the first opinion on point in the country.
As long as the lawyer does not 'friend' the other party or direct a third person to do so, accessing the social network pages of the party will not violate Rule 8.4 of the New York Rules of Professional Conduct (prohibiting deceptive or misleading conduct), Rule 4.1 (prohibiting false statements of fact or law), or Rule 5.3 (b)(1)(imposing responsibility on lawyers for unethical conduct by non-lawyers acting at their direction.)''
Social media, however, can negatively impact more than criminals. It is also completely legal for employers to research potential employees on Facebook and Myspace.
Danialle Riggins, head of Riggins Law Firm, which specializes in employment law, has recently come under a maelstrom of questions regarding what employers can do should they find any questionable information or photographs on the employee's Facebook or Myspace page. When asked if employers have the ability to take action when questionable material is found, Riggins answered:''Absolutely.'' Riggins says that even if the questionable activity was done off of the clock, ''It affects the employer's reputation.''
