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As a claimant in a personal injury case you may be subject to video and digital surveillance.

What You Need to Know About Personal Injury SurveillanceIn any personal injury case, establishing the nature and extent of the injury suffered is critical. Naturally, the defense will be attempting to downplay your injury in an attempt to reduce the amount of damages they may have to pay.

There are many potential strategies that they may use in pursuit of this goal. For example, they may hire their own medical experts to examine your medical records and disagree with your doctor’s prognosis for your recovery. They may say that your recovery will be faster, less expensive, or less painful than your doctor expects. They may also try to argue that the injuries stem from a pre-existing condition, so that your pain was exacerbated by—not caused by—the accident. Or, they may argue that certain surgeries or other treatments are not necessary for your recovery.

In addition to preparing their own expert testimony, one of the most powerful tactics that the defense can use to undermine your claim is to conduct surveillance. They will typically hire a private investigator to handle this for them. Here are four important things you need to know about personal injury surveillance.

You Can Be Watched in Any Public Place

Private detectives cannot come up and look in your windows, but they can park their car on the street and photograph or videotape anything and everything they can see from this vantage point. This includes things you do on your doorstep or in your yard. They may also follow you to your work or to any other public place.

Investigators May Try to Trap You

Some investigators have been known to use sneaky tactics to try to get a surveillance subject to engage in questionable or compromising behavior. For example, for someone with a back injury, they might put a $100 bill on the sidewalk and then see if the person bends over to pick it up without seeming to be in pain.

Your Activity on Social Media May Be Monitored

Monitoring activity on social media is a key part of personal injury surveillance today. Investigators may look at your Facebook or Twitter accounts, looking for comments that suggest you are not as impaired by you injury as you claim. You are better off not posting any details about your injury or your case on social media, and certainly not in a forum that is visible to the public.

You Need to Tell Your Attorney If You Suspect You Are Under Surveillance

If you suspect that you are under surveillance, you need to inform your personal injury attorney immediately. This will enable your attorney to request copies of any video evidence that has been obtained as early as possible and get a head start on preparing your response to this evidence.