I’m struggling with a stiuation and hope y’all could help me shed some light on it.
My cousin’s girlfriend is the sweetest thing in the world. She also posts a LOT of random stuff on facebook.
She works at a social security disability firm, and today she went on a mini-rant about a client who apparently has had a rather obscene number of abortions. No names were mentioned, but very private info such as number of children, number of miscarriages, and of course, number of abortions. All of the facebook friends rallied alongside her.
I was shocked – not at the number of abortions, but that this girl would release that kind of information via facebook. Client confidentiality and all that, right? Or is it really, since she’s not revelaing names?
So I have a few choices:
Ignore. Probably for the best.
Say something, likely via private message. This would be tough, since I’ve only met her a few times in person, but we really hit it off. If I could find the right way to phrase it, this would probably be my preferred solution.
Contact her agency directly and report that one of their employees is putting info like this on facebook.
Contact her agency directly and report that [insert her real name here] is putting info like this on facebook.
She is young, and not the shiniest apple in the bushel. But she has been a very welcome addition to the family, and I would like to remain on good terms with her.
If I were to PM someone in regards to a post like that, I would leave my personal opinion out and just remind them that some companies snoop on facebook and maybe she wants to be careful about what she puts out there an employer could potentially see.
I would choose option 1 or 4. There will be no way for her to find out who reported her, and you needn’t damage your relationship with her. At the same time, only you can decide whether what she blabbed is sufficiently problematic to overcome your inertia.
I personally would err on the side of reporting her, via anonymous letter. Include a printed screencap of the post. If what she posted isn’t a problem, then she won’t get in trouble for it. If she gets in trouble for it, then she shouldn’t have posted it. Let her employer decide.
If the situation described were the details of your own medical history, sans names, being posted to Facebook, would you feel that your caregivers had breached confidentiality, or would you be thinking “well, so long as they leave my name out of it, whatever…”?
This is my question. Unless a) the woman’s identity can be determined or b) the comments will directly affect her eligibility to receive benefits, it’s a non-issue. Your cousin’s girlfriend is allowed to disapprove of recreational abortion if she wishes.
She did not breach anyones confidentiality. At the very most I would mention to her possible risks and then let it go for good. You are talking about her livelyhood and jobs do not come easy, very serious stuff!
That’s my reaction. Unless you can identify the person she is talking about based on the info she posted, it does not sound to me like a breach of confidentiality. I work in medicine and we take the privacy laws in medicine very seriously, but doctors can and do talk about unusual cases they’ve seen - they just avoid mentioning info such as names or other identifying details.
How can you even say “she has been a very welcome addition to the family, and I would like to remain on good terms with her” when you’re apparently considering trying to go behind her back to try to get her fired?
If you really must make this your business, you might want to PM her to express concern about if talking about her clients is allowed by her job, but I think it would be an epic asshole move to try to get her fired for this (which is what would happen if you did report her and the company actually does have a policy against this).
If you don’t want to get her fired, I’d send a private message with something like:
"Saw your post about xyz. Understand how it raises eyebrows, but wanted to warn you that the feds have been cracking down in the HIPAA stuff() and I know you didn’t reveal who it was, but your employer might be pretty upset if they happened to see your post and it only takes one busy body to send them a link and land you in hot water."
() this is true, the number of fines have been going up under the recent administration.
HIPAA aside, because from the OP she probably didn’t breach it, this is a PR nightmare for her employer. Would you want to go to a clinic when the employees run to facebook to post all your personal business? If a HIPAA complaint is filed, it will cost them man hours to prove that they didn’t breach the regulation. And, the investigation is a matter of public record. She’s probably just young and even though she’s not technically breaking the law, IMHO she’s skirting close enough to get herself fired. And, in a very small town, she may be breaking the law if the client has an unusually large brood.
I’d go with dropping her a very friendly caution, that although she hasn’t mentioned names etc, someone that knows the woman might still be able to work out her identity - if if that happens the FB poster could get into a lot of trouble.
Sometimes it only takes a few small clues to awaken suspicion in a family, and I’m very sure that she doesn’t want that to happen.
My company would consider this a serious issue, possibly even leading to termination. Whether or not it technically constitutes a privacy breach, you don’t share confidential information. Period.
Customers, and potential customers. don’t like the practice. They want to think their personal data is sacred, not fodder for discussions on social media. Ethilrist put it well, and I think that most people would be aghast at seeing their own details (without names) on Facebook.
If I saw such a posting, and I had other options, I would not use the firm where such a person was employed. Suggests a culture where sharing personal info isn’t considered a big deal. My firm would deal with such a matter severely. So, FWIW, consider this in deciding how to handle this situation. Some companies would fire her for this.