Facebook Privacy Stories – The Viral Cannabis Plant

There has certainly been a number of social media fails on behalf of the criminals of the world this week, as another bumbling convict provides us with another lesson in online privacy.

Only a few days after we discussed the case of the hapless fugitive who illustrated some “do-nots” when it comes to things you certainly do not do when on the run from the law, our latest privacy gaffe comes from Marcin Zendarski, who provides us with some social media “do-nots” when it comes to already being in prison.

In this case, the incident that we recommend avoiding is taking “selfie” pictures of yourself whilst in prison holding contraband material.

Especially if that contraband item is a cannabis plant that you use to manufacturer illegal drugs.

The “selfie” which Zendarski inexplicably uploaded to his Facebook account began to circulate the social networking site by bemused users, until, inevitably, it was bought to the attention of prison officials.

This in turn led to an intensive search and seizure initiative by guards, leading to plenty of seized items (including the plant) and plenty of unhappy prisoners.

It’s nice to be social and share information with your friends and followers on the Internet, but a solid piece of advice that applies whether you’re in or out of prison is that there are plenty of things that should not be uploaded to Facebook.

A selfie of you holding an illegal cannabis plant is certainly one of those things.