Lawyers say the case of a Montreal writer who said his insurance company refused to pay him disability benefits due in part to online postings is a reminder to people to watch what they put on the Internet.
Literature professor Samuel Archibald published a letter in Montreal newspaper La Presse earlier this month detailing his struggles to get disability benefits after being diagnosed with severe depression.
Archibald wrote that his insurer had refused his claim in part because of photos on Facebook and Instagram that showed him jogging or playing with his children.
Lawyer David Share says companies are increasingly using social media as a quick and easy way to find grounds to deny insurance claims.
He says that while the issue of social media monitoring raises privacy concerns, thus far there are few government regulations in place to stop it.
Share says the best advice is for people to be very careful about what they post online.