Social media and particularly Facebook have proven to be a fantastic way for our community to disseminate information however I occasionally receive comments or complaints which identify personal information including that of the complainant and/or the person or property which is the subject of the complaint.
Sharing personal information on social media has proven to be one of the most significant risks to individuals and their rights under various pieces of privacy legislation.
Can I respectfully suggest that complaints which refer or relate to specific persons or properties be dealt with by way of Private Messages (PMs) and not in the public forum? I have some real concerns that individuals could inadvertently open themselves or their families up to litigation or ‘pay back’ actions by an aggrieved person. From a selfish point of view, it also places me (or anyone else receiving such a complaint) in an uncomfortable position should the information be used inappropriately.
Apologies if this sounds like a lecture because it’s certainly not supposed to be but I’m sure that the Administrators of various social media pages would with the need for caution.