This morning's email brought advance notice of an article that will appear in the upcoming issue of Warren, Gorham & Lamont's Estate Planning Journal, entitled "Protecting a Family's Good Name in the Internet Age", by Patricia M. Soldano and Michelle Jordan. I recommend reading the article in full. Here is the opening summary:
Today, bad publicity on the Internet can quickly inflict long-term damage to a family's hard-earned reputation. This article explains how a family can manage and enhance its online good name and the legacy for which the family wishes to be recognized.The article discusses a number of issues concerning managing and protecting the reputation of high-net worth families in the public domain of the Internet. Examples such as Internet search (Google, Yahoo, Bing) and social networking media (Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Shuttefly, etc.) are cited as sources for information about families and their financial and personal situations. There is a cautionary discussion of how damaging information gets out on the Internet, including how clients and their families may unintentionally or unwittingly post information that they will later regret having made public. Tellingly, the article cautions:
. . . it is well to remember that what goes up [on the Internet] stays up and is accessible to anyone who cares to find it for little cost, or for free.The article contains numerous insights, including a discussion of how to manage information on the Internet and how to react and minimize the impact of damaging or unflattering information that becomes available online. There is discussion of recent situations, including the example of swimmer Michael Phelps' recent difficulties with his image.
Sorry, no hyperlink to the article here. If you are a subscriber to RIA's Checkpoint service with access to the WGL Journals, look for the article online under the preview of the upcoming issue of the Estate Planning Journal. Others can look for the article in print when the new issue comes out.
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