Social Media Research for Law Firms

8/23/2019 Social Media Research for Law Firms

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/social-media-research-for-law-firms 1/78

Searching Social Media

Pennsylvania Bar Institute

April 2013

Jennifer Ellis

Lowenthal & Abrams, PC&

Jennifer Ellis, JDwww.jlellis.net

www.lowabram.com

http://www.jlellis.net/

http://www.lowabram.com/

http://www.lowabram.com/




Today’s Discussion

What is Social Media?

Unique considerations

Legal Privacy

Ethical

How to Perform Research of Social Media



1 billion

1 billion users per month

343 million

100 million4 billion photos

49 million

500 million

1 in 4

200 million

24 million1 million

businesses

Social Media = 2 Way Communication

http://www.twitter.com/

http://foursquare.com/

http://www.abajournal.com/blawgs/



Unique Considerations



Legal Issues – Improper Access

Felony and/or Misdemeanor Charges

Charges for Improper access to

E-Mail Social Media

All Accounts



Federal

Electronic Communications Privacy Act18 USC § 2510-2522

Includes computer based communications Includes stored communications



Federal

18 USC § 2511

Interception and disclosure of wire, oral,

or electronic communications prohibited

intentionally discloses, or endeavors to

disclose, to any other person thecontents of any…communication…



Pennsylvania

18 § 7611. Unlawful use of computer andother computer crimes. (3rd Degree

Felony) Accesses or exceeds authorization to

access

Provides password or other informationallowing access to a third party



Applies to:

Everyone

Spouses

Children Paralegals

Private Investigators

Attorneys



Subpoenas for Data?

Most sites state they will not respond toa civil subpoena

Claim violates Stored CommunicationsAct

Some sites will surprise you so ask



Subpoenas for Ownership

Some sites will cooperate

Provide email address

Provide username or ID number



Privacy Issues –

Access Blocked

Unlike traditional research

Privacy settings can block access to

undesired viewers

Privacy settings often complex and confusing

Famous last words “I didn’t think anyone

could see it.”



Privacy Issues

Four types of settings

Open (anyone can see)

Light (friends of friends) High (Friends only)

Highest (no one but the owner)



Ethical Issues

Can’t do it off line, can’t do it online

No contacting/communicating with

represented party Includes certain employees if company

is opposing party

No communicating with jurors



Friending is Communicating

Do not friend opposing party

Ok to friend witnesses

Must reveal who you are Do not ask a third party to friend those you

cannot friend



Ethical Issues

Fine to review

What is publically available

What already connected people can see Watch for other issues, example

forcing employees to show employer

opposing party’s account Make sure employees and independent

contractors understand rules



Note about Spoliation

Do not delete contact relevant to the case

Instruct clients not to delete contact

Recommend a signed letter to CYA



Process and Examples



Three or Four Pronged Approach

1. Gather Data about Person

2. Find Account(s)

3. Review Accounts 4. Verify Information



1. Gather Data

Name(s)

Email Address(es)

Site(s) using Links to accounts

Is your client connected to the person?



2. Find the Account

Use search techniques to find the account

Might require offline techniques

Cooperation of account owner Discovery



3. Review the Account

Access what you can

Privacy settings will be an issue in some

cases Might require offline assistance



4. Verify

Does the account belong to the person you areseeking?

Compare with what you know about the person

Pictures

Email address(es)

Other details

Use other accounts or online presence to verify Was the account created by a third party to hurt the

person?



Facebook and Curtis D. Ellis

Curtis is suing Rami and Angelou for harm hesuffered:

Rami tried to touch Curtis’ Rawhide

Angelou lay on Curtis’ back



The Claims

Cannot do his job, i.e. Guarding house andperson of his owner

Feels jumpy and distracted

Unable to focus as necessary

Having issues barking

Substantial loss of life enjoyment

Unable to

Eat his favorite food

Visit his friends

Engage in physical activity

Th Pl i tiff



The Plaintiff



The Defendants



Pause to Review Facebook and

Privacy Settings

Privacy settings have a huge impact on

what you can see Friends can see a lot

Public can only see what owner of

account allows

Wh t th P bli C S



What the Public Can See

No Information

Publicly SharedPhotos



What the Public Can See

Looks Like Curtis

Doesn’t Post Much



What Friends Can See

Details Curtishas shared Posts by

Others onCurtis’ Wall

Friends

Wh t F i d C S



What Friends Can See

Check Ins tolocations

InterestsPosts andAnswers



Individual Posts and Pictures

Choose Who Sees What



Finding Someone

No Connection?

Very Difficult



Get ID Link if You Can

• Individual settings matter here

too• The more private the settings

the harder to find• People can choose to be

searchable in Google, most

don’t



Back to Curtis D. Ellis v.

Rami & Angelou

Curtis is friends on Facebook with Rami &

Angelou(Cats)

Cats can access his account

What has Curtis provided to counter the

claims?



Post: Concerned about Cats

Curtis explains hisconcerns



Picture: Angelou on Back

Angelou didin fact lay onCurtis’ back

H !



However!

Curtis isClearlyGuarding

A d B ki



And Barking

d i



And Eating Burgers



Curtis Might Have a ProblemWith his Case



The Problem of Popular Names -

Verification

Question

Does Jennifer Ellis have a MySpace

Account? What do we know about Jennifer Ellis?

Lives in Pennsylvania

34 to 45 years old Attorney



Look on Google?

3.2 Million Results



Look on MySpace? 500 Results

L th T l f E h Sit



Learn the Tools of Each Site

MySpace Advanced Search

2 R lt N Pi t



2 Results – No Picture

E i A t



Examine Account

i



Follow Data Where it Leads

Examine Site for Clues



Examine Site for Clues

Researching a Person Who Contacted



Researching a Person Who Contacted

Your Client on Facebook

Someone posted something rude on aFacebook Page

Wanted to know who he was and why sooffended



Finding the Person

Easy to find, because had posted on thePage

This gives link to account

Able to access his account and determine:

A Public Defender

In Maryland

Connected to Page through anotherattorney who had “Liked” the page.

Can send message to this person



A Note about Facebook

Graph Search

New, more useful search

Looks for

People

Places

Things

Does not search posts

Does not override privacy settings



Facebook Graph Search

Makes it easier to find

People

Business pages

Fan pages

Must sign up to access until given to

everyone https://www.facebook.com/about/graphsearch



Do You Have Graph Search?

Yes

No



Search Facebook Statuses

Status must be public

Are people talking about divorce on

Facebook? http://openstatussearch.com/

Does not catch everything

http://openstatussearch.com/





Twitter Search



Twitter Search

Twitter Requires Operators



Twitter Requires Operators

More Twitter Operators



More Twitter Operators



Set Automatic Searches:

Twitter: monitter.com Set any number of searches

Shows in columns

Automatically updates

Uses same commands as regular Twittersearches

Includes location option



YouTube



YouTube: Filter



Google+

Must be in your circles or

Publicly shared

Works like regular Google search Google+ results integrated into regular

Google results

Bookmark search for repetition



Google+ : Filter



g

LinkedIn Search



LinkedIn Search



Preserve the Data



Preservation

Have a third party do the evidence

preservation

Don’t be a witness in your own case Use video and images to show

preservation



How I Preserve & Authenticate

Video and audio recording of my actions onthe computer

Screen captures with Snag-It

Additional captures with Adobe Acrobat

All while explaining what I am doing

Mention account identifying information(email, ID number/name)

Date and time

Name of person doing the preservation

Thank You



Thank You

Jennifer Ellis

Lowenthal & Abrams, PC

&

Jennifer Ellis, JD

[email protected]

www.jlellis.net

mailto:[email protected]



mailto:[email protected]

Social Media Research for Law Firms

Documents

Transcript of Social Media Research for Law Firms