Social Privacy

Are we entering a new time in which insurance companies are able to deny claims based on Tweets and Facebook pictures?

Yes.

Nathalie Blanchard, a woman from Quebec, Canada was recently dropped from her Manulife health coverage for severe depression because of pictures and messages that were posted on Facebook. Nathalie had been diagnosed with severe depression from her psychiatrist and was recommended to go on extended leave. After a year and a half, her coverage stopped and Nathalie phoned the insurance company to see what was happening. She was told that there were pictures of her at the beach, out with friends and there were status messages of her climbing a mountain. Because of this (and possibly other factors that we are unaware of) it was determined that she was no longer depressed.

Natalie is filing in court to get her coverage back and Tom Lavin, Nathalie’s attorney stated:

“I don’t think for judging a mental state that Facebook is a very good tool,”

“My client was diagnosed with a major depression. And there were pictures of her on Facebook, in a party or having a good time. It could be that she was just trying to escape.”

Manulife did admit that it uses Facebook, however they responded to the CBC stating:

“We would not deny or terminate a valid claim solely based on information published on websites such as Facebook.”

Nathalie was employed by IBM and has been asked to go on leave without pay.