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.

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

You don't 'log on' to someone's social media. If it's public, anyone can see it, they don't even have to have account. Surely that in itself is relevant in certain social work cases?

I have a profile that has my real name specifically for employer's searches, as they could be more suspicious if I don't have a profile.

It's absolutely squeaky clean so, if for some reason, the security settings fail or are removed by FB or somebody finds a way to see everything, all they'll see is innocuous stuff.

I think that if employers/potential employers are able to look and see whether there is something dodgy, it's only reasonable that for the purposes of protecting the vulnerable that social workers can do the same.

I think they should look - as they said it's not locked down. But the first thing they should do is to show them how to lock it down so nobody else can do that.

It might be in the public domain but it’s not as simple as just having a look. (Log on wrong choice of words.)

People have pointed out that there is policy, guidelines and professional standards that govern this. It’s there for a reason. One is that people have a right not to have their private lives under surveillance. If there is a legitimate reason to access a service user’s SM such as a safeguarding issue then this is recorded and in line with the local authority policies.

@GreyhoundG1rl

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.

It’s about what’s appropriate, proportionate and ethical. That’s what I’m trying to get across. SW cannot and should not access SM without an ethical and specific reason.

Still not hearing back from people about what devices they are using to access Facebook to look up the people they work with? Work devices or home devices?

How is what you’re seeing being recorded?

I personally would be very careful about it UNLESS there was a very specific and clear safeguarding reason for looking and I knew it was supported by my management.

Social workers shouldn’t really just routinely be doing Facebook searches for everyone they work with.

I think there’s a large grey area and definite boundary issues.

I have a profile that has my real name specifically for employer's searches, as they could be more suspicious if I don't have a profile.
Why would anyone be suspicious if you didn't have a fb profile. I know loads of people that don't have a presence.

Why would anyone be suspicious if you didn't have a fb profile.

I’m 23. People my age don’t use Facebook but it’s definitely weird for someone my age to not have social media or an online presence at all. It’s essentially a background check

It would be unprofessional not to look surely! I’m an adult, not vulnerable, and I could get fired for posting the wrong thing on public Fb or Twitter. It’s not private.

Once you put information up without privacy settings it is public information.
It would be a good insight into their life.
Employers do it too.

Of course it’s ok

I use my work devises. I generally only try to track the young people on social media when they are missing. Once messaged one kids entire friends list when he had been missing for 3 weeks.

@Butwasitherdriveway

No. Not cool.

Who on earth cares about cool? If it gives a social worker an insight into a vulnerable child's life, it's a useful tool.

the Social Worker is doing the right thing.

All these people saying it’s fine...have you read the responses from people on here? It is NOT fine to routinely check a service user’s social media without their consent. Whether it’s in the public domain or not.

I suspect none of you saying it’s a good thing actually work in this field. I’m a social work manager for a local authority. It is a matter of professional ethics and standards. A worker has to have a good reason to check (risk is one) and this is recorded and usually discussed with a manager.

@Frenchdressing

All these people saying it’s fine...have you read the responses from people on here? It is NOT fine to routinely check a service user’s social media without their consent. Whether it’s in the public domain or not.

I suspect none of you saying it’s a good thing actually work in this field. I’m a social work manager for a local authority. It is a matter of professional ethics and standards. A worker has to have a good reason to check (risk is one) and this is recorded and usually discussed with a manager.

You're deluded and naive, if you believe none of your staff are doing this.

Well if they are and are accessing this information they are in breach of our organisational policies. They can’t use the information they find unless they do it officially. If they aren’t doing it officially they are beaching our policies.

What would be the point of accessing this information if you then can’t use it in any official capacity?

Sure, I don’t know what my staff are doing on the internet all of the time but our IT department can. And if they are accessing it on personal devices that’s a whole other level of unethical practice.

I’m not naive, this is a whole new developing area of ethics in social work, surveillance and digital privacy. Every social care organisation is coming to terms with and grappling with the implications.

Ethical use of these capabilities is part of a social worker’s professional standards and breach of this is a conduct matter that can lead to deregistration. So we take it seriously

Btw ....deluded and naive...Charming way to talk to people.

@Frenchdressing

Btw ....deluded and naive...Charming way to talk to people.

your welcome.

It’s you’re....and you are also welcome.

@Frenchdressing

It’s you’re....and you are also welcome.

Apologies ... you are very welcome.

I work in a role similar to social work. Our training was that it might be ok to look on Facebook for particular info, but you have to have a specific reason to check ie not routine. And one person accidentally clicked on "add friend" to a child, which resulted in him being interviewed by police as potential grooming, so it's risky

And one person accidentally clicked on "add friend" to a child, which resulted in him being interviewed by police as potential grooming, so it's risky
Find it massively unlikely that that is all there was behind that story.

Some of you have no idea how seriously public sector organisations take information breaches. Even accidental ones. A friend sent an e mail to the wrong person and it triggered an internal process that could have resulted in disciplinary action.

Pubic sector bodies have information governance systems that police this stuff with vigour.

It's social media and public information. I am in professional services and always check fb, Instagram etc before employing candidates. I would have no worries about a social worker doing so either.