As evidenced by the recent clamor surrounding Rep. Anthony Weiner and his inappropriate tweets, social networking sites such as Twitter open up the possibility for getting people into trouble.
At first, Weiner claimed that someone hacked his account, but later he confessed to being the culprit. However, hacking an account isn't necessary to do damage when anyone can pose as someone else.
For example, Coventry First, a life insurance firm, is suing a Twitter fake.
On its website, Coventry First states that it "created the secondary market for life insurance in the U.S." In the secondary market, life insurance policies are sold for cash to investors who do not have an insurable interest in the insured's life but will collect the proceeds from the policy. The investor profits when the insured dies.
Going by the Twitter moniker @conventryfirst and presumably posing as the insurer, the imposter sent inappropriate tweets such as "horrible weekend…no plane crashes," apparently commenting on the nature of the insurer's business.
Coventry accused the phony of trademark infringement and unfair competition.
Whether an insured is the perpetrator or the victim of tweets gone awry (or inflammatory blog posts or inappropriate Facebook comments), several insurance concerns can arise, such as libel; copyright and trademark infringement; cyberbullying; or harassment.
Insurers are taking notice of the exposures cropping up around social networking sites and other online activity. For instance, in a statement on the Emerging Issues page of its website, ISO said the following regarding its recent revision to the Homeowners program:
In a homeowner's multistate revision, ISO has filed an optional endorsement that provides personal injury coverage within an aggregate limit. The slander, libel, and invasion of privacy exposures typical under personal injury coverage may potentially include some Internet and electronic publications. The endorsement addresses concerns that, because of the widespread use of personal blogs and social networking, some insurers may not wish to provide coverage for such exposures under the "per offense" limit of liability in the existing program.
What types of issues are you encountering with insureds and social networking? Do you consider social media usage when reviewing your insureds' coverage needs? Discuss in the comments section below.
This blog post is meant to provide insights into insurance coverage issues in general, and does not necessarily account for the differences in law and practice in different venues. As such, the opinions expressed within should not be construed as legal advice for the unique circumstances of any particular claim or suit.
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