I hate you; you broke my heart; I never want to see you again. Oh, and can you check my Facebook while I’m at yoga to see if my sister got back to me? That’s what a Connecticut, US couple’s doing after a judge forced them to share Facebook and dating website passwords.
The judge ordered Stephen and Courtney Gallion to share all of their passwords after Stephen saw some incriminating things about how his wife felt about their kids, and her ability to care for them, on the couple’s shared computer. He thought more might be available in her accounts, so he asked the judge for her passwords. The judge said sure, whatever, and while Mrs Gallion initially balked, her lawyers gave her the (according to Forbes) rather questionable legal advice to go along with it.
This is all funny and tragic and stupid and Jennifer-Aniston-Romantic-Comedy-y and all, but it does hit on an interesting topic: This isn’t the first time something like this has happened, but it does go against the grain of wider legal standards. Typically, a “discovery” like the one Mr Gallion made would mean Courntey and her lawyers would be forced to share only the related information, even if incriminating.
But with digital information, judges seem more willing to let the other side just go in and root around all they want. Which is, legally speaking, kind of what the hell, man?
[Forbes]
Image Credit: AP