Social Media: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

I came across something new for my presentation that I call the good, bad and ugly of social media. Fortunately, it didn’t seem to originate as a social media blunder, but it does highlight the care needed when selecting document names for any items being uploaded (pictures, video, voice, documents, etc) onto social media channels, websites or portals.  These document names are tags that can be used in searching.

I came across something new for my presentation that I call the good, bad and ugly of social media. Fortunately, it didn’t seem to originate as a social media blunder, but it does highlight the care needed when selecting document names for any items being uploaded (pictures, video, voice, documents, etc) onto social media channels, websites or portals.  These document names are tags that can be used in searching.

The issue involved a surgeon who placed on her website, with permission, before and after pictures of women who had breast augmentation surgery.  While there were no faces shown or names visible on the website, the file names used were the actual patient names. Now, the surgeon is facing a HIPAA violation and lawsuit from the 10 women involved.

Once again, this blunder also highlights why everyone should be googling their name to see what pops up.  I bet these ladies were certainly surprised when their before/after breast surgery pictures popped up.  Just as I was surprised to find a picture of my husband and I from a meeting we had with a mortgage company representative.  They had taken our picture and placed it their company’s file on a photosharing site.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t secure and was labeled with our name.  I found it and asked that it be immediately removed.