Privacy & Social Media: Listing Last names

Okay, question for those experienced in privacy/fair housing and how it applies to social media.

Most of our properties do a monthly or weekly shout out on their Facebook/Twitter pages to the residents that have birthdays that month or week.

Most just list first names (ex. "HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO 10/21: Liu 10/23: Andre, Jacqueline, William and Folake 10/25: Jason and Bria Happy Birthday guys! Have a wonderful week!") which wouldn't seem to be a problem.

However, this week one of my sites brought a question to my attention.

They asked "A point for clarification — should we avoid using first and last names when we address/recognize students on Facebook? i.e. [property name] today mentioned first and last names for residents’ birthdays... I think this might go against a Privacy Act, but I’m not sure. Random shout-outs should probably only include first name, but acknowledging FANS that have subscribed would already be public knowledge so that should be okay to cite their first and last name... yes? no? In the same way we cannot confirm or deny WHO lives on property, what apartment number or what telephone number. Don’t want to make any mistakes that could be grounds for litigation..."

Not 100% certain how to respond.
I first would tend to agree with the assumption that if they are NOT a fan of our page or following the site on Twitter that they should NOT list their last name but if they ARE a fan/follower it would be okay to list.

I would assume a good rule of thumb would be to not list last names whatsoever, but if the site were to be running a promotion where they are announcing a Fan/Follower as a winner on the page that it would be necessary.

Thoughts/Responses?

My last employer placed a great deal of emphasis on maintaining confidentiality. What I would say is it is okay to acknowledge the resident by FIRST Name only, not using last initial/name; and never, NEVER posting any specific information.

The same applies to when there is a drawing or other contest where there was a winner. First names only.

Great question. I am no expert and have been involved in the early stages of social media marketing for my company. But I have some thoughts to share.

First, I found this slide presentation online that might offer you some place to start:http://www.slideshare.net/DaliahSaper/legal-implications-of-social-media. Its a good idea to consult your company's chosen law firm for further direction. Especially if your company does not have a social media policy.

One question...Would your team put your Resident's birthday on a printed newsletter with out their consent? The answer is likely yes because they plan on distributing the newsletter community wide, most will see it, and the shelf life of a printed newsletter is probably 24 hours. No harm done. But the online world is different. What you post is relatively permanent (you can remove posts on Facebook).

My gut tells me if the Resident has not engaged with you as a friend or fan, leave them off completely. You may anger them if they are not a Facebook user. We all know people who will not engage with Facebook simply for the privacy issue so it might be best to leave them alone entirely. Some people are distrusting of social media and we all have extra sensitive Residents at our communities. Plus if they are not friends or fans yet, it might be better to focus on the ones who are already there.

What do you think? I'd love to see more experts respond here!

This is a great topic Natalie. Melissa, it may be wise to consult with your attorney if there is some privacy laws that may need to be addressed.

It may be good to check out Facebook's TOS to get some clarification on fan pages.

The bottom line is, you have created a fan page to engage those who are part of your community. As with all Social Media ventures, you need to take it step by step. It can be as simple as sending a fan an update wishing them a Happy Birthday and asking them if you can post it publicly on the fan page. That little first step will mean a lot to a resident. You need to determine whether or not your residents view the the fan page as a community site. This will take time and persistence in order for them to see it that way and treat it just like it's the community newsletter. That's my 2 bits for now. I am sure we will here from others on this topic. Charity Hisle has a lot of great thoughts on this subject too. www.2witterbug.com/

Thanks for the shout out Jonathan! I agree, this is a GREAT topic of discussion Natalie!

I'm no lawyer, but it seems to me that if people have taken the steps to both Fan you on Facebook AND include their birthdates on their profile, then by all means say happy birthday. For that matter, I would tag the person in an update/note so they are notified of the greeting.

If the person is a fan of any page, their first and last name appears in the list of fans. If they object to the greeting, then they should un-fan the page.

Social media has brought a lot of gray areas to fair housing and privacy laws. I don't think a happy birthday greeting is a violation but you should consult with your legal department to get a company policy established. If you do this, please share it with the rest of us!

What a great topic, Natalie!! I think we can all agree that we are not lawyers and that this is probably something best handled by those more familiar with the legal ramifications. So let me see if I can get a hold of Robin Hein, a fellow panelist at the GAA social media panel, and see if he would put his two cents in.