General Petraeus was forces to resign as a result of an affair that came to light through Internet evidence
Who doesn?t love a good sex scandal? Thanks to former CIA director, General Petraeus, we were all able to feast on someone else?s fall from grace. While this is not the first time a public official has flown too close to the sun of extramarital lust, this was a man in charge of the secretive operations of the United States of America who gets caught in large part because he misused and misunderstood gmail. If the director of the most advanced spy agency in the world can?t conduct an affair in secret, what hope does this leave for the rest of the extramarital affair seekers?
This article isn?t about the rudimentary technology mistakes Petraeus made in conducting the affair. There are already enough articles on that subject. But the Petraeus affair did get my wheels turning on the effects that social media technology have had on fidelity and how the information gained from these technologies can be used in divorce cases.
We have never been more connected. From your bank account to e-mail to the time the next train comes, you can access everything from your smartphone. This also means that we have never been more able to easily exchange flirtatious ?sexts? or plan secret rendezvous.
Technology makes it possible for a person to Google or Facebook search the name of a high school sweetheart and rekindle long lost loves. Websites like Ashley Madison are solely dedicated to helping people in committed relationships find other people in committed relationships to have affairs with. Physiologists are reporting a growing number of couples that cite social media as the chosen method of reconnecting with lost loves and affair engagers.
But, while it?s easier to conduct these affairs, it?s also easier to get caught. As the Petraeus affair highlighted, if you?re not savvy about how e-mail, social networking sites, and IP addresses work, it is quite simple to have your every move tracked. Not only is getting caught embarrassing and devastating to your personal life, your Internet based transgressions are often offered as evidence in divorce cases.
Gone are the days of private detectives. Now, parties in a divorce case will often turn to social media behaviour and e-mails as evidence of infidelity. Numerous family law lawyers and firms are reporting a steady and noticeable increase in the number of divorce cases where this kind of evidence is being used. Since 2010, social media and e-mail have been the key part in over 700 divorce cases. Lawyers are using social media in litigation as evidence of person?s state of mind, their whereabouts, their actions, and the time and place actions took place. In fact, one in five divorce cases in the United States involve Facebook in some way.
What may seem like an ordinary update to your Facebook status could be used to your detriment in a court of law. Courts, and the judges that preside over them, are taking notice of the evidentiary benefits of social media and requesting that parties turn over their social media passwords in order to gain access to relevant information. In the May 2011 case, Zimmerman v. Weis Markets, the Pennsylvania court ruled that parties can be ordered to turn over passwords, usernames, and logins for social networking sites.
However, the party requesting the order must be able to show that there is a reasonable likelihood that divulging this information would lead to the discovery of information relevant to the case. For example, if you are claiming that your husband is unfit to care for your children, but last week you posted about how great a father he is?you see where this is going.
In conclusion, be careful what you post online. It seems to this author that Petraeus, and many others, have suffered because of the belief that their secrets are safe behind a computer screen. The laptop is like a car. In a car you get a false sense of privacy and you start picking your nose, forgetting everyone can see you. Behind a laptop in the privacy of your home you get a false sense that your online actions are private, when in fact, they are very public and very accessible.
How public is your ?private? life?
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About Kira O'Connor
Kira graduated from of U.C. Berkeley with a degree Mass Communications and Media Studies and will graduate from the University of Oregon School of Law in May 2012. Kira has worked in entertainment and media since high school, and during college she worked at Universal Music Group and the Cal Berkeley television station. In law school, her focus has been on sports, entertainment, and intellectual property law. When her face isn?t buried in case law, she enjoys triathlons, adoring baby animals, and taking jumping pictures. Follow her on Twitter @kiraoconnorsacha baron cohen ryan seacrest octavia spencer meryl streep oscars school shooting ohio billy crystal oscar winners 2012 billy crystal oscars 2012
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