I'm not sure im ok with this. Social worker/Facebook

[notacooldad]

I was talking to some social workers before our zoom training meeting started.
We were talking about caseloads and one says that she always has a quick look to see if the child has Facebook. She'll look through to see who their friends are and says a lot of kids don't lock their profile down so she can get an insight to the child.
Some thought it was an invasion of privacy, someone else said it was in a public space. I just think I feel like banging my head against a wall because young people aren't listening when I'm doing internet safety sessions and keeping safe!!
What do people think? Should the SW snope? I can see both sides tbh but wouldn't want to do it.

Yes of course you should, even if only to tell them they need to lock down their settings afterwards. Surely it's a bit of a safeguarding thing if they have open profiles?

It's not snooping, employers and all sorts of people will look you up if they have a mind to, and if you have your profile open, you're a dope.

‘It is important that social workers understand their statutory responsibilities around privacy and tell people about these limits. A person’s right to privacy also applies online. Social workers who conduct searches online about people they are supporting, without their consent, could be breaching privacy laws and could potentially be compromising their ethical conduct.

Sometimes searching for information in the course of social work is justifiable, such as in an emergency. In such instances, it is important to record actions and justifications.’

From SW professional standards.

It's not snooping if it's a public page.

@notacooldad

I was talking to some social workers before our zoom training meeting started. We were talking about caseloads and one says that she always has a quick look to see if the child has Facebook. She'll look through to see who their friends are and says a lot of kids don't lock their profile down so she can get an insight to the child. Some thought it was an invasion of privacy, someone else said it was in a public space. I just think I feel like banging my head against a wall because young people aren't listening when I'm doing internet safety sessions and keeping safe!! What do people think? Should the SW snope? I can see both sides tbh but wouldn't want to do it.

I think I'm more surprised that clear guidance doesn't already exist. How can a social worker carry out their work if they're not sure what constitutes an invasion of privacy.

I think I'm more surprised that clear guidance doesn't already exist.
How can a social worker carry out their work if they're not sure what constitutes an invasion of privacy.
I'm not a social worker so I don't know what thei guidance is.

I had this conversation a million times with NHS/SS professionals who just didn't get the importance of closed profiles and got accused of all sorts for doing so. I worked before it became what it did for FB in a small role and have a totally closed account in a fake name which did have my NHS employer on it so I'd get recommended accounts.

One person got burgled after putting on Facebook they were on holiday, because they had a picture of their house on their open page.

But the worse was when I had someone (appropriate adult when someone is interviewed by the police and vulnerable) phone the police to accuse me of hacking and stalking and banned me from ever accessing cmht services again - that didn't end well, as in the meantime their child faced an attempted abduction by a known child abuser they had been supporting and when it went to court their FB, which was STILL open access had all their child's details on it as well name/age/school and pictures. Not having learnt a thing they continued with their "freedom of speech" and found a violent patient on their doorstep wielding a gun. Then and only then did they learn.

Basically if you aren't going to stand in your local town/village screaming what you have on your social media then don't put it on social media. Lock as much as you can. And, always remember even when locked the companies own what you put on it at the end of the day and, there's no such thing as deleting things either - stuff remains archived - as the dr who hadn't paid any taxes and had put on his locked account about all he had bought with his "saved" money - that berk came to me and expected me to help him as when he was called to HMRC they had copies of his FB uploads which were private.

I can even now look on my FB feed and guarantee you there will at least on professional who works with vulnerable people recommended to me.

So yeh. Not just young people who don't listen @notacooldad

Sorry for spelling errors!!

We do the same for any job applicants.

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit

I think its bloody good way of seeing how vulnerable a child is actually.

This.

I'm a social worker. We've never had clear cut guidance on this, but we're told as a general rule NOT to check social media, but to discuss with a manager if we feel we need to.
Exceptional reasons that we have had it agreed to are;
To track down non resident parents esp if we might be going to court
To try and locate missing young people
If we've been told that there's evidence on Facebook of something that contradicts a child protection plan, eg an ongoing relationship with a DV perpetrator or a child being groomed (though for the latter the police would be involved very quickly)

It's very clear that we can't and shouldn't be routinely checking people's profiles, regardless of whether they are public are not. However we are encouraged to develop a relationship with a child where they might show us their social media, as the accounts are a bit of a window into a young persons life. My young people often show me their tic toc videos or things they've posted. If children live with their parents we encourage the parents to support and monitor SM activity and help them learn what to look out for

As a social worker I received competing advice about looking people up Facebook. First I was advised I could if the profile was open but then advised not to do it at all.

Is she prepared to act if she sees concerning information on their page (eg child in relationship with a much older person ). Is she’s using a work device to look up the children and doing it in work time.

Personally I would want clear guidance from management and would never do it on a personal device.

What type of social work does she do?

Yep, we do this regularly.

..and to a previous poster - yes we have fake FB and other social media names.

@ThebirdsAndBeesWhereThere

Yep, we do this regularly.

..and to a previous poster - yes we have fake FB and other social media names.

Fake Facebook names? Do you friend request them?!

Do you use a work laptop/phone?

Most social workers I know have fake Facebook names (eg using a middle name) but that's so parents don't look us up, same as most teachers I know. I don't think any of my colleagues would use them to snoop!

You want to see how vulnerable a child is (from a professional standpoint), check their social media. A vulnerable child will usually have social media that can be viewed and commented on by anyone because they’ve parents that don’t give a shit. Think it does nothing but good for a social worker to be able to see and make that determination.

Honestly I think it’s just part and parcel of the world we live in now.

I used to be a social worker, both child protection and then with children in care, and yes, I would very often have a look at their social media, especially if they were quite young. It was very useful to see vulnerabilities, exploitation, who they were in contact with (some young girls often being groomed by older men) and very useful if they went missing.
I always did it with safeguarding intentions - if there was nothing of concern, I’d never mention anything to them.

Its interesting how people seem to think it’s just straightforward. It really isn’t. Social workers are subject to professional standards. Service users have rights to privacy. It just isn’t as simple as ‘it’s in the public domain’.

I think it’s a good idea, as long as they’re mindful of how bias may get in the way. I’m just very surprised that they look at Facebook and not instagram - I know it’s easier to find people on Facebook but I don’t know of any young person who regularly uses Facebook haha

Yes, employers do it too. Any information you can safely gather without harm is beneficial.

I searched each applicant for a job and was absolutely horrified by some things I seen.

@notacooldad

*I think I'm more surprised that clear guidance doesn't already exist. How can a social worker carry out their work if they're not sure what constitutes an invasion of privacy.* I'm not a social worker so I don't know what thei guidance is.

Yes, I know you're not, but you said you were talking to SWs and their opinions were divided.

I know of people who have been recalled to prison for breaches of licence posted on their public Facebook pages, new picture within an exclusion zone, pictures with weapons and drugs, or co-defendants they are prohibited from associating with etc. Recalls approved by PPCS and licences revoked by the prison, warrants and arrests executed by police. It's legal to look at someone's public Facebook profile.

You cannot access a service user’s social media without good reason and the reasons need to lawful and recorded. Needs to be for explicit and appropriate purposes. There is policy and guidance on this.

See also RIPA-regulation investigatory powers act.

Regular access would constitute surveillance and would not be appropriate.

Consent should be gained where possible.

Social workers cannot just casually log on to someone’s social media.

And if SWers aren’t clear about this then they need some training!

Social workers cannot just casually log on to someone’s social media.
But anybody can, in fact, do this? It's kind of the point of social media...
You make it sound like accessing medical or psychiatric records, which people can reasonably expect to be private.