Australian court allows loan default notification via Facebook

Australian court allows loan default notification via Facebook

www.kansascity.com

Facebook has become a wildly popular online hangout, attracting more than 140 million users worldwide since it began in 2004.

Lawyers say they cannot recall a precedent for the Dec. 12 ruling in Canberra’s local Australian Capital Territory Supreme Court that allowed lender MKM Capital to use Facebook to serve legal documents after weeks of failed attempts to contact borrowers Gordon Poyser and Carmel Corbo at their Canberra home and by e-mail.

Facebook spokesman Barry Schnitt praised the ruling.

“We’re pleased to see the Australian court validate Facebook as a reliable, secure and private medium for communication,” he said.

“The ruling is also an interesting indication of the increasing role that Facebook is playing in people’s lives,” Schnitt added.

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This is a little bit frightening. If that precedent has been set in Australia, it could just as easily show up in the US, the UK, etc. People have a choice to use these sites, but they certainly didn't use them to have another outlet for governments and businesses to give them notices, warnings, etc. And if they can put this on there, how much access do they have to the user generated content and profiles of millions of facebook users? Is it only a matter of time before the PTB have full power over our social networking sites?

www.kansascity.com
(visit the link for the full news article)