Awhile back, U.S. News & World Report ran an interesting piece on social media and debt collection. Obviously, the 1978 Fair Debt Collection Practices Act could not have anticipated either the rise of the Internet or social media, and the FTC has held hearings in the past year regarding new technologies and debt collection. According the U.S. News article, debt collectors have been known to set up fake Facebook profiles and friend consumers who collectors believe owe a debt. Although the courts haven’t ruled specifically on social media, it may very well be decided that debt collectors can try and locate you via social media, just as they would try and locate you via other methods of skip tracing. It seems logical, however, that it would be against the spirit of the FDCPA to specifically mention your debt on Facebook or other social media outlets.

The takeaway? First, check your Facebook privacy settings. Many people’s Facebook profiles are public, meaning virtually anyone with a Facebook account can find you. Restrict the information you share to friends only. Additionally, be careful what you post on the “Info” section of your Facebook page. Listing your employer, your cell phone number, and so forth is low-hanging fruit for a debt collector. And, don’t forget what your mom taught you – don’t talk to strangers. In the same vein, don’t “friend” strangers on Facebook. The U.S. News article also says to be judicious in your use of the “Like” button on websites. The fainter your digital footprint, the more difficult it is to be found.

The Houston Chronicle reports that the debt collection industry is abuzz about using social networking sites like Facebook to gather information about consumers who owe money. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act regulates the ways in which debt collectors can gather information about consumers, but hasn’t kept pace with technology. As consumers put an increasing amount of private information on Facebook and other social networking sites, there’s a question about whether that information is in the public domain, and can be treated like information in other publicly available databases, or whether debt collectors accessing that information would violate privacy provisions of the FDCPA.

There’s some consensus among debt collectors that gathering contact information via social networking sites is acceptable, but other information may not be. The bottom line? Pay attention to social networking sites’ privacy options, and ensure that the information you wish to remain private stays private.