Christensen 1

Ryan Christensen
English 1101
Dr. Melina Probst-Martin
May 9, 2016
Jeffreys v. Farmers Unite
The main concern of voluntarily ignoring a legal document is the primary focus of
the situation between Joe Jeffreys and Farmers Unite. A lawyer would look at this
potential case in a different manner than a regular person would. However, even a
regular person can apply common sense to this problem. It is my belief that Mr. Jeffreys
acted irresponsibly in not reading the Farmers Unite Terms of Use. While I feel for Mr.
Jeffreys and the situation he finds himself in, he still must be responsible for his actions.
The first problem Mr. Jeffreys faces is an investigation being conducted by the
Internal Revenue Service. Mr. Jeffreys falsified information on his public profile. Per the
Terms of Use Policy of Farmers Unite information provided by and about the user could
be shared with a third party. Mr. Jeffreys information was shared with the IRS, came to
the attention of Ms. Philange and led to his income investigation. Ms. Philange must
work under the assumption that either the information on Mr. Jeffreys tax return has been
falsified or the data received from Farmers Unite is false. Only an investigation will
answer these questions.
The second problem Mr. Jeffreys faces is the possibility identity theft. According
to the facts, Mr. Jeffreys has discovered his photograph being used without permission on
another website. We are unsure of any other harm having taken place however; Mr.
Jeffreys will now be forced to monitor his financial accounts.
Mr. Jeffreys contends that an alleged damaged reputation was caused by a privacy
invasion and the sharing of his personal data with third parties. Aside from the IRS

Christensen 2
investigation, the possible identity theft and the loss of a possible relationship Mr.
Jeffreys feels that justice must be served. Joanie Fleur would argue that Farmers Unite
did nothing to harm Mr. Jeffreys in sharing his profile data with an outside party. Their
business rules are to ensure that people feel comfortable and their personal information is
not shared with other users. Charlie English would argue that all information concerning
privacy and data sharing is included in the Terms of Use Policy which is available to
view during account creation.
According to Duhaime's Law Dictionary an "Ignorance of the law by a person
who commits an offense is not an excuse for committing that offense." This statement
can be applied to Mr. Jeffreys case. While signing up for Farmers Unite, Mr. Jeffreys had
the opportunity to carefully read their Terms of Use Policy. Mr. Jeffreys voluntarily
skipped reading the Terms of Use. Terms of Use policies act as contracts or agreements
between the website and the website user. By simply displaying the Terms of Use and
with Jeffreys acceptance of the Terms of Use a contract was formed between the two
parties. It can be assumed that many of Mr. Jeffreys legal arguments would be invalid
because of the agreement.
According to Nicholas Carrs Is Google making us Stupid article the manner in
which people read and comprehend the written word has changed with the digital age.
He writes about a colleague who believes the internet has altered his mental habits. I
now have almost totally lost the ability to read and absorb a longish article on the web or
in print. Adam Gopnik writes in the article named How the Internet gets Inside us
Everyone said that the flood of books produced a restless fractured attention. Perhaps

Christensen 3
faced with a document that is very long and contains difficult to understand concepts it
was easier for Mr. Jeffreys to skip reading the Terms of Use policy.
Another point against Mr. Jeffreys is the providing of false information in his
profile. Mr. Jeffreys lied about both his income and his height in hopes of attracting more
ladies. While his intentions seemed harmless, they violate the Terms of Use to which he
agreed. According to eff.org, courts have found that providing false information, such as
providing a fake age violates statutes in the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986.
It can not be pleasant to be informed of an IRS investigation, discovering your
photo being used without your consent, or to find out your identity might have been
stolen. However, the Terms of Use Policy states that data might be shared with third
parties. It is also not the responsibility of Farmers Unite if an image of a user is copied
and used elsewhere on the internet. At this point in time data of many types is used in
ways the creator did not intend. Daniel J. Solove writes in The End of Privacy Broad
based exposure of personal information diminishes the ability to protect reputation by
shaping the image that is presented to others. With the huge amount of data available
some data might be used in ways not planned.
Many people will argue that Mr. Jeffreys privacy was compromised with the
sharing of his personal data. Companies have long collected personal information and
data and shared it with other companies. Usage, financial, and demographic data has
been collected for many years and shared with third party companies for a financial gain.
Others might argue that the Terms of Use Policy is not an agreement or contract,
however, it has been upheld in courts that Terms of Use policies are indeed agreements
and contracts.

Christensen 4
The main point is this: Mr. Jeffreys had the opportunity to read and understand the
Farmers Unite Terms of Use Policy. Solove writes The threats to privacy are formidable
and people are starting to realize how strongly they regard privacy as a basic right. It
was his choice to not read the terms and fill out a profile with false information. Had Mr.
Jeffreys taken the time to read the Terms of Use policy his privacy and data security
might have been better protected. I believe Mr. Jeffreys will lose a case against Farmers
Unite. Mr. Jeffreys situation is unfortunate, but it was caused by a lack common sense in
not reading the Farmers Unite Terms of Use Policy.

Christensen 5
Works Cited
Computer Fraud And Abuse Act Reform. Electronic Frontier Foundation, Web.
4 May, 2016
Ignorance of the Law Definition. http://www.duhaime.org Web. 4 May 2016
Solove, Daniel J. The End of Privacy? Scientific American 2008. Page 101- 106. Print
Carr, Nicholas. Is Google making us Stupid The Atlantic. Print
Gopnik, Adam. How the Internet gets Inside us The New Yorker 14 February 2011.
Print