Using Facebook to serve legal papers

[Playinghardball]

Source: MSN
By Kim Peterson

In other countries, courts are becoming more accepting about using Facebook to send notices to people who can't otherwise be found.

You can find out a lot about perfect strangers on Facebook. And some lawyers and courts are starting to take advantage of that.

Legal cases grind to a halt when people can't be found to get served with court notices, Bloomberg reports. But sometimes when they can't be found in person, they can be tracked down on Facebook.

Courts in New Zealand, Canada and other countries are becoming increasingly comfortable with serving papers over Facebook. In Australia, one lawyer used the website to serve a foreclosure notice to one couple who defaulted on their loan. So far, we haven't seen Facebook used to serve papers in the U.S.

How can you make your Facebook account more secure? The following video has some tips.

http://money.msn.com/top-stocks/post.aspx?post=c0a49b0e-9987-40b9-8444-e7991f42cbdc>1=33002

Post continues after video:

[hlthe2b]

1. geebus...

:eyes:

[monmouth]

2. One sure way is to get off FB....n/t

[Bake]

3. The LAW specifies what is good service.

And every jurisdiction of which I am aware allows for several kinds of service where the subject cannot be found: last known address, publication, etc. FB not needed. I don't see the law on this changing any time soon.

Bake

[Incitatus]

4. That's what I thought

I've heard all you have to do is put an ad in the newspaper if you are unable to locate the person. I don't see where FB would even be necessary.

[hlthe2b]

5. You seemed to be missing the part about serving warrants

through FB. While these are foreign precedents, that is alarming. NO, you can NOT serve a warrant through an ad in the newspaper. That serves to notify in some probate cases AFTER EXHAUSTING ALL OTHER OPTIONS, but is a limited legal recourse. VERY different from serving a warrant through FB, however.

[csziggy]

6. So how do you prove you were not served if a fake Facebook account

In your name was served? For instance, just the other day in the Casey Anthony trial, an expert witness was accused by the defense attorney of claiming to be a chemist on his Facebook account. The expert testified that he did not have a Facebook page or account and did not know who would have set one up and made that claim.

And then there are those who created a Facebook account that they have never used and never log into. The point of serving someone legal notice in person is to ensure that they actually get the notice. A Facebook account is far less than certain that the notice will be received at all or even by the correct person.

I think this is an absurd way for companies to get out of the requirements for legal notification.

[customerserviceguy]

7. May this never happen in our country

Facebook and Twitter are just Internet garbage, not a substitute for real contact with real people.

[Philippine expat]

8. "How can you make your Facebook account more secure?"

Easy, don;t have one