Divorce Laws & Procedures Legal Tips

Divorce And Privacy In A New Technological Age

Very few people would argue that the anonymity that people around the world used to enjoy is a thing of the past. There is no such thing as “privacy” anymore. Even those who go to great lengths to keep their personal lives private are dragged onto social media pages without consent and videotaped without express permission.

divorce and privacy

Many people marvel at how the world got along without all the technology that is “enjoyed” in the new world. But the one thing that is undeniable is that even with all the good that comes from being “connected”, there are a lot of harmful consequences to consider. One such area that is suffering is the institution of marriage, as well as the dissolution of marriage in court.

Just as when you are accused of a crime like a DUI, what you say in your social media posts can be brought into court and used for or against you. When you are going through a divorce, not being guarded about telling intimate details during a lawyer consultation, ranting about your spouse, or even recounting events can come back to bite you in the behind.

It isn’t just what you post on Facebook, either; many forms of digital media can be used against you. Things like being videotaped while behaving inappropriately or in the midst of an argument can be entered in as evidence to show what type of character you have and what the real story may be.

In any divorce proceeding, there are always three sides: his, hers and the real story. What the courts are starting to take into account are pictures, posts, and videos that show what is really going on behind closed doors.

When you delete an email or a text, you might just assume that it is no longer available for anyone to see — but you are wrong. Simply because you delete something doesn’t mean that it is gone forever.

In this age of technology, nearly everything is traceable and recoverable, whether you want it to be or not. Ironically, when you lose your hard drive to a virus, the things you want are gone forever, but what you have been doing behind your spouse’s back might be backed up to a digital cloud that you don’t know about.

If you think you are being sneaky, think again. There are all sorts of wireless storage places that your “private” contacts, info and conversations are being saved to that you have no idea about — but computer and technology whizzes do.

Things like photos, documents, and videos on your private mobile devices may be visible to others without your consent or even your awareness.

According to many law experts, if you have something on your phone or you have been doing something that you don’t want anyone to know about, there is a good chance that it will be found out.

If you have anything on your mobile device and it gets saved into a cloud or wireless data device, then anyone can gain access to it. It would be assumed that if you haven’t given express permission for someone to see your private things, then it would be an invasion of privacy.

That is a problem with technology. Whether they have been given your consent or not, if you share a wireless data plan then you are giving license to your significant other to view whatever you are writing, reading or sending.

This is changing the face of divorce law, and there is no longer a need to hire a private detective to discern your spouse’s whereabouts. Typically, all the information is found right in the open. Most people assume that no one is following what they are doing, or they are careless in what they say and what they post.

The problem is that when the “I dos” don’t go right, there is often a trial of evidence against one or both partners. No one’s privacy is assured anymore. So whether your marriage is in trouble or not, the best thing to do is to assume that whatever you are doing can be seen by the rest of the world at any point, so check yourself. If you don’t want to get caught, then don’t do anything wrong, or make sure that you unplug to do it.