I received an article in my news feed that should be of great concern to people on disability that use social media. The title is:

U.S. Government Wants to Use Social Media to Decide Who Is ‘Disabled Enough’ for Disability Benefits


An excerpt from the above article is:

"According to the New York Times (see On Disability and on Facebook? Uncle Sam Wants to Watch What You Post - The New York Times ), the Trump administration is proposing that Social Security Administration officials routinely examine the social media accounts of people who have applied for or receive disability benefits as part of determining whether they qualify. The policy is not specifically outlined in Trump’s recently released budget, though it does mention allowing the SSA to “use all collection tools to recover funds in certain scenarios.” The budget would have to be approved by Congress before going into effect.

This proposal has alarmed disability advocates all over the country. However, most of the objections raised in the media have failed to address the real dangers of such a policy to individuals with disabilities and the disability community as a whole."


The whole The Mighty article is at:
Government Wants to Use Social Media to Decide Disability Benefits | The Mighty

[Calypso2632]

I read the whole article and followed up with some of the comments on that page. I agree it's a violation of basic rights. Not every day is a "bad" day. Mentally or physically. I have issues in both regards. At the same time we all know on some level Facebook sells our data and doesn't protect our stuff. It's come out in the media over and over. Either way to have someone spy on a social media account is ridiculous. It gives no real picture of a person's life. Only what they want to show.

[sarahsweets]

I guess what I am worried about is how will anyone find out about a mental disability or illness affecting your daily life through Facebook? Isn't it always that people on Facebook post the best most wonderful things that are happening to them? I don't very often see people post about being mentally ill and having an awful life on Facebook.

[~Christina]

I post about my unrelenting Fibromyalgia pain. It never ends , some days I can function better than others, some days I’m flat in bed.

I also posted about my struggles with Bipolar.

I’m not worried about my SSDI

[USMCBIPOLAR7]

I don’t see how that could happen because even the police have to have a warrant to invade our privacy. It would seem that there would be just cause first and not a blanket violation of privacy.

These are all important points. Thanks, everyone, for your perspectives on this. What would concern me most is that it could potentially be a policy that SS monitors people on disability via social media. It could get more and more like "Big Brother's watching you" like in George Orwell's book "1984".

We all know many prospective employers look at candidates' Facebook, etc. I know in my husband's job they do as part of investigations, without any need for a warrant. Facebook is freely accessible information, as is info on other social media platforms. Isn't it? Though I know you can limit viewership. Limiting view is an option in some cases, but must be set up deliberately.

I happen to have a very unique name. I may well be the only person in the world with my exact name. This has led me to be quite cognizant that I'm easy to research. I know that details I don't want to share about my life are available, including where I've lived, family names, my last employer, and much more.

Facebook tends to be as "real" as "reality" tv. As in, not very. Certainly not something to base real life decisions on.

It's an idiotic idea. Not for nothing, consider the source...

Can I just say that I can't help but be darkly amused that this idea comes from one whose "issues" are so very clear in their own social media. Looking at you, Twitter...

[venusss]

On the other hand, I knew several people who were on disability for physical things, but then would work illegally (not paying taxes) in jobs like construction, etc. When going to their doctor, they'd bring crutches from the attic and limp like devil's grandmother... and then go back to carrying heavy loads and so on.

So it is not like there aren't any people misusing the system.

But judging by facebook is not reliable method.

Lol. They should focus some of that energy on the corporate hot shots that steal billions from innocent Americans. This is just another attempt to try to turn our fear and hatred toward each other. There are people that take advantage of the system, but they do a lot less damage than the ones who created the system in the first place.

[tecomsin]

I don't post on social media except on anonymous forums. That is a really creepy story. Thanks for sharing.

[Scooter9]

They have been doing this in Canada for years now. Not just disability, but tax and just about every other benefit you can get here.

They justify it because they say you're posting publically anyway so they have access by default.

It is creepy but if your posts are public and not anonymous I guess anyone can check out what you're up to, so the government probably figures they might as well get in on the game too.

[MickeyCheeky]

Thank you so much for sharing this article, BirdDancer! Thank you so much everyone for sharing your opinion about this. I agree it's a TERRIBLE decision. I can't even imagine how they may have thought this was a good idea. I hope this proposal goes back where it came from as soon as possible. Spying is certainly no good and there are too many doubts and questions about all of this that it just can't work out. I agree we need to raise awareness on this issue as much as possible. It's just not fair. Let's stick together, everyone! Sending many hugs to everyone

[USMCBIPOLAR7]

Originally Posted by Scooter9

They have been doing this in Canada for years now. Not just disability, but tax and just about every other benefit you can get here.

They justify it because they say you're posting publically anyway so they have access by default.

It is creepy but if your posts are public and not anonymous I guess anyone can check out what you're up to, so the government probably figures they might as well get in on the game too.

But mine is not public

[tecomsin]

Originally Posted by Scooter9

They have been doing this in Canada for years now. Not just disability, but tax and just about every other benefit you can get here.

They justify it because they say you're posting publically anyway so they have access by default.

It is creepy but if your posts are public and not anonymous I guess anyone can check out what you're up to, so the government probably figures they might as well get in on the game too.

Hey Scooter9, I also live in Canada and would like to be pointed to any information from sources about what the Canadian government has been doing to spy on its citizens, or even insurance companies. Do you have any links about this? What is the extent and how many people are employed to spy on other people via social media? I wonder if this is a real thing by now or actually rather rare for the regular person.

I also have a unique name in the world as I can easily check by googling it. I am so glad I stay away from facebook except to use messenger. But i don't post or look stuff up on facebook. I think it is a cesspool personally.

[Guiness187055]

Best thing I ever did was get rid of my social media.

[Blue_Bird]

I pretty much share pictures and memes of cats all day... so they can make what they want of that....

[tecomsin]

I keep an anonymous twitter account to tweet on one subject and to find out what is going on in the world in the subjects i am interested in. I set it up using an anonymous email address, don't use my real name, and never go in from my cell phone but they can track my ip number when I have forgotten to turn on the vpn so it is also not really private.

but only the government can get the ip address of an account from twitter and other social media companies. The same of course for posts here. There is nothing that is truly private and anonymous unless one takes very careful measures and gets it all right. At least that is how it is now.

[Scooter9]

Originally Posted by tecomsin

Hey Scooter9, I also live in Canada and would like to be pointed to any information from sources about what the Canadian government has been doing to spy on its citizens, or even insurance companies. Do you have any links about this? What is the extent and how many people are employed to spy on other people via social media? I wonder if this is a real thing by now or actually rather rare for the regular person.


I also have a unique name in the world as I can easily check by googling it. I am so glad I stay away from facebook except to use messenger. But i don't post or look stuff up on facebook. I think it is a cesspool personally.

Just search for the name of an agency followed by the words social media. I just did it for cra social media and an article talking about how they use it to monitor people came up.

You might have to dig some more for other agencies but it's not a secret that they use social media posts to gather information on people that are posting publically.

[FriendlyJoe]

Good thing I dont FB

[~Christina]

Just set it as private/ friends only. Take just a few clicks.

[tecomsin]

Originally Posted by Scooter9

Just search for the name of an agency followed by the words social media. I just did it for cra social media and an article talking about how they use it to monitor people came up.

You might have to dig some more for other agencies but it's not a secret that they use social media posts to gather information on people that are posting publically.

Thanks Scooter9, I did the search you suggested and found some reports but nothing that would give me an idea of the scope of this. From what I understood if cra have suspicions of tax evasion then they can start an investigation and that includes social media. I'm wondering if this is really a mass surveillance operation or if it is only really a small number of people who are being watched.

Can you suggest some other agencies that would be surveilling people?

[Scooter9]

Originally Posted by tecomsin

Thanks Scooter9, I did the search you suggested and found some reports but nothing that would give me an idea of the scope of this. From what I understood if cra have suspicions of tax evasion then they can start an investigation and that includes social media. I'm wondering if this is really a mass surveillance operation or if it is only really a small number of people who are being watched.


Can you suggest some other agencies that would be surveilling people?

Not really, you'd have to do some digging on your own to find the agencies and articles, but it's out there.

But you're right, it probably starts with some kind of suspicion that something's going on for them to start monitoring you. But I think if you're getting any kind of benefits from the government that you'd be on the radar.