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Why "Private" Profiles Are Not Actually Private in a Maryland Injury Case \| CallAmir.com

CallAmir.com · Maryland Personal Injury · Article 18

Why “Private” Profiles Are Not Actually Private

The False Comfort of a Privacy Setting in a Maryland Injury Case

You clicked the toggle. Your Facebook says “Friends only.” Your Instagram is locked. It feels like you closed the door. In a Maryland injury case, that door has a key the other side may already hold. “Private” is a setting on a website. It is not a legal wall, and it is not a promise.

A privacy setting keeps out a nosy coworker. It does not keep out a subpoena, a court order, a screenshot, or the person on your friends list who is not really your friend. The people building a case against you know the difference. You should too.

“Private” is a setting. It is not a shield. A court can order what your privacy toggle only hides.

“Private” Is Not “Privileged”

The law protects a few truly confidential relationships — what you tell your lawyer, your doctor, your spouse. Those conversations are “privileged,” which means the other side generally cannot force them into evidence. Your social media is not on that list. There is no “social media privilege.” Marking a profile private changes who can casually see it. It does not change whether a court can order you to hand it over.

Once you make a claim for injuries, you put your physical condition at issue. That opens the door to discovery — the formal process where each side can demand information relevant to the case. In Maryland, that can reach your posts, your photos, your messages, and the account data behind them, whether the profile is public or private.

★ Private vs. privileged Privacy settings control your audience. Privilege controls what a court can compel. Social media has the first and not the second. Assume that anything you have posted can be requested, reviewed, and shown to a jury.

Every “Friend” Is a Possible Leak

Whatever your setting, someone can still see your posts — that is the entire point of posting. And anyone who can see a post can screenshot it, save it, and send it on. A friends-only photo is one forward away from a defense file. You are trusting every person on your list to stay quiet about your case, whether or not they even know it matters.

⚠ The friend who is not a friend Investigators sometimes send friend or follow requests from unfamiliar or fake accounts to get inside a “private” profile. Once they are in, private means nothing. A stranger who suddenly wants to connect right after your crash is a signal, not a coincidence. Do not accept requests from people you do not know while your case is open.

You Do Not Control What Others Post

Your privacy settings only govern your own account. They do nothing about the photo your cousin posts from the barbecue and tags you in. Nothing about the group-chat screenshot. Nothing about a teammate’s public post celebrating your return to the softball league. Other people’s accounts, with their own settings — often fully public — can put you online in ways you never approved. And all of it is just as usable against you as your own posts.

The most damaging post in your case may be one you never wrote.

The Platform Keeps More Than You See

When you delete a post, it disappears from your screen. It does not necessarily disappear from the company’s servers. Platforms keep detailed records — timestamps, location data, edit history, and content you thought was long gone — and they can be required to produce that account file in response to a subpoena. What you see on your phone is the tidy front page. The back end holds far more, and it is reachable through the court process.

How This Turns Dangerous in Maryland

Everywhere, this is a problem. In Maryland it is sharper, because of a rule called contributory negligence. If the defense convinces a jury you were even one percent at fault, you recover nothing. Not a reduced amount — nothing.

That is why a single “private” post carries so much weight here. A friends-only caption meant as a joke — “wasn’t even paying attention, lol” — can be pulled into an argument that you share the blame. A locked photo of you lifting something heavy can be used to argue your back injury is exaggerated. Private does not make it safe. It only makes you feel safe while the same material stays within reach.

Do Not “Fix” It by Deleting

Once you understand that a private profile is not really private, the instinct is to purge it. That is a serious mistake.

⚠ Deleting is its own trap (spoliation) After a claim exists, your posts can be evidence. Destroying evidence has a legal name — spoliation — and a Maryland court can instruct the jury to assume whatever you deleted would have hurt your case. That instruction can do more damage than the post ever would have. Do not delete. Preserve everything, and let your attorney decide what happens next.

What “Private” Is Actually Good For

None of this means privacy settings are worthless. Locking your accounts is still worth doing — as a floor, not a wall.

★ Set everything to private anyway It stops the free, instant public scrape on day one and forces the other side to go through the court process instead of simply scrolling. It buys time and narrows what is casually visible. Just never mistake the floor for a wall.

★ Go quiet until the case is over The safest post about your life during an injury case is no post at all. Stop posting, stop commenting, and ask family and friends not to post about you or tag you while the case is open.

★ Tell your lawyer what is already out there Before the defense builds a timeline from your profile, tell your attorney what exists — your posts, your tags, the accounts connected to you — so it can be handled correctly and lawfully.

The Bigger Picture

Being told that your “private” life is not private is unsettling, especially when you are hurt and simply trying to live normally. But the setting was never built to protect a legal case, and pretending that it does only helps the other side.

The other side is counting on you to trust a toggle. Understanding what it really does is how you take that advantage away.

Maryland’s rules are demanding, and the insurance industry knows exactly how to reach what you thought was hidden. Those same rules reward people who prepare. Lock it down, stay quiet, preserve everything, and get a Maryland personal injury attorney involved before the other side finishes building its file.

The profile you think is private is already part of your case. Treat it that way, starting today.

This article is for general educational purposes only. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Maryland law changes, and every case turns on its own facts. If you or someone you love has been injured, speak with a Maryland personal injury attorney about your specific situation before making any decisions.

If you have been injured in Maryland, do not speak to the defendant’s insurance company, their adjuster or attorney, it may jeopardize your case. Contact The Guerami Law Firm, LLC through CallAmir.com for a confidential consultation with Amir Guerami and his team.