As I logged on to Comcast the other day, I cam across a disturbing article. (To view it, click here.) It describes a Canadian woman who was out of work, battling severe depression, and receiving sick-leave benefits. The money from her insurance company stopped coming this fall, and she was informed that the reason for this lack of benefits was that the company had seen pictures of her on Facebook partying and vacationing. The company's rationale was that a person who was actually severely depressed would not party or go on vacation, but the woman's doctor specifically instructed her to do both of these things in an attempt to battle the illness. She is now suing the insurance company in a case that will go before the judge on December 8th.
The main question that the court will be addressing is whether or not the insurance company can make that sort of decision based solely on pictures off of Facebook or similar sources. They have made a medical judgment from pictures, which seems to me to be an ineffective method.
The company did release the statement that, "we would not deny or terminate a valid claim solely based on information published on Web sites such as Facebook." Despite this blanket statement, any other method of gathering evidence against the woman has been unclear.
My main concern while reading this article was that of personal privacy. How disturbing would it be to have your insurance money taken away after agents merely saw pictures of you on Facebook?
It seems to me as though we feel like there is some anonymity on the internet, and that therefore we use much less caution online than we would otherwise. This is just one more cautionary tale for those of us who cannot seem to get that through our heads!
Do you think that it is acceptable for an insurance carrier to search their clients on Facebook?
I think I can see it from both point of views. On one hand, everyone has a right to privacy, and an insurance agency has no rights to make claims about something without hearing the woman's side of the story - specifically that her doctor told her to go on these vacations for her depression. However, there is a limit. On the other hand, I think that this woman could have done a better job protecting her privacy, including making her facebook page only viewable to friends. But, my opinion on whether or not the company can make that decision solely on Facebook pictures is that it is wrong for them to do so. Without knowing all the circumstances, they can't make that decision.
ReplyDeleteWhile I believe that practically anything put on the internet is public information, I think that the insurance company's claim in this situation is completely unreasonable. How much can a few vacation pictures truly say about the state of one's mental health? I have several friends who suffer from severe clinical depression, though you'd never know it from their Facebook pages. Anyone would choose pleasant pictures to display on a social networking site over other alternatives. Besides, having the ability to enjoy oneself every once in a while does not necessarily imply complete mental health. Those with depression typically have ups and downs. I think this entire fiasco is ridiculous, and I'm disgusted by it.
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