I was shocked when I opened up the Yahoo home page to see a story about a woman losing her benefits over Facebook pictures. What? This social network that is supposed to be highly secure and protected? Hmmm...this is why my husband refuses to open a Facebook account. (Yes, he is pretty much the only one.)Apparently, the Canadian woman was on long term disability diagnosed with major depression and there were photos of her having fun on Facebook (the usual: at a Chippendales show, her birthday, and on vacation). While you can argue whether or not the woman was bilking her insurance company and truly suffering from major depression, that is really not my concern.
How would an insurance agent ever see these pictures? Was she "friends," or "friend of friends" with the insurance agent? Or was she actually dumb enough to let "everyone" see her information? If she allowed "everyone" to see her information, then I would understand how the insurance agent/company could feast their eyes on these photos. However, if she didn't have that privacy setting in place, or lack there of, then how could those images have ever been seen???
I have been told by very unreliable sources that the government was actually a big financial backer to social networking sites like Facebook. I don't know if that is true, but it sure would make sense and be a smart move for the government. However, that means Big Brother is always watching.
Does that make me want to close my Facebook account...kind of. But then I wouldn't know when Suzy (fictitious name) made a delicious turkey sandwich and enjoyed every bite of it.
Here's what we can take away from this story...don't post anything about yourself that you wouldn't want your mom, your boss, a police officer, or the President to know about. Oh, and make sure your friends don't post any of that stuff about you either!!!
For the entire story on Yahoo, click here.
Image courtesy of Yahoo.com
2 comments:
I've read several news articles and researched for additional details before coming to a conclusion.
I'm sorry to say this, but it sounds like to me that this woman is just lazy. Anyone who really had a depression [or other mental] problem would NOT be posting photos on facebook, much less continuing to post photos on facebook. This whole "I have a depression problem" is just one that ANYONE can fake.
Now as for the argument of how facebook profiles should have been locked and private... there is NO such thing as keeping things "safe" and locked on the net. ANYTHING that gets posted or sent [yes that includes EMAIL] through the net STAYS on the net. I've known this simple FACT for years.
As for the insurance company being "in the wrong" to snoop and discontinue her benefits... I'm sorry, but they have every right to know if someone is handing them a line a sh!t just to get free money out of the deal. There ARE people out there who REALLY do need and deserve to have health insurance, but don't get it because of individuals like this woman who make it bad for everyone else. I commend the insurance company for buckling down and I wish that other leeching individuals would get caught and cut off too.
Bottom line: it doesn't pay to be a thief, liar, lazy, money moocher. Let this be a lesson for anyone who thinks it's ok to suck on the system while others pay their hard earned money for it. IBM would be wise to not allow the woman to come back to the job. Instead, they should tell her to take a hike, as this story I'm sure will have some sort of bad reflection on the corporation. If this woman is capable of going to a beach weekly and capable of going to night clubs to see male dancers, then she's most certainly capable of working a normal job like a normal human being.
Don't feel sorry for con artists. They're good at sucking people dry of their money.
Iofa,
Thank you so much for doing more research on this story. I will admit, I only read the Yahoo story so I don't know all the details as to what exactly she put on her page. And I completely agree that people shouldn't take advantage of the system. When it comes down to it, I don't feel sorry for her. I just thought the article was a little reminder we might all be using the internet with a false sense of security.
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