$7 Million Social Media Privacy Mistake

In some professions the use of twitter is made a requirment by advertisers and the like, who expect you to bring followers into their sphere of influence…

Thus not having a twitter account can not just effect your bank balance, but your career prospects as well.

But there is another side as some people have found, if they don’t grab their own name etc on Twitter then somebody else will, and depending who it is that can have disastrous consequences that the laws of fraud, harrisment, stalking etc just don’t address…

So much as I do not like saying it, not having social media accounts is increasingly not an option for some these days…

As for the video etc, I have not seen it nor even heard of this person before. The drug mentioned is not called “dope” without good reason and it’s very easy to test for use months afterwards. It is also an internationaly band substance for athletes and is routinely tested for. So as he has gained employment, it suggests that he is “clean” of actually smoking the drug.

Finally I will note that some people do not use what many here would consider adequate authentication security, and have in the past have paid the price for that. Not that some social media sites –like linkedin– have used adiquate security in the past on how their users passwords are stored or kept from unauthorised access…

AdBlocker Override • May 4, 2016 5:31 PM

Laremy Tunsil Loses More Than $7 Million In Salary During 2016 NFL Draft Plummet

Laremy Tunsil will forever be remembered for teaching a generation a valuable less on the pitfalls of social media.

After a video of Tunsil was posted on his verified Twitter account, which appeared to show the Ole Miss offensive tackle wearing a gas mask and smoking a substance through a bong, Tunsil’s draft stock plummeted. At one point considered a likely No. 1 overall pick, Tunsil fell all the way to No. 13 and the Miami Dolphins.

While it is unlikely that Tunsil would have been taken during the first two picks, he was the Baltimore Raven’s top target at No. 5. Two offensive tackles were selected before Tunsil (Ronnie Stanley at No. 6 by the Ravens and No. 8 Jack Conklin picked by the Tennessee Titans). Had Tunsil been chosen in place of Stanely, his maximum projected salary would have been approximately $20.4 million, compared to the $12.4 million he will receive from the Dolphins – a drop of more than $7 million! That includes a drop in guaranteed signing bonus from $13.1 million at No. 6 to $7.2 million at No. 13.

Tunsil’s agent Jimmy Sexton of CAA earlier stated that ”It is B.S. Somebody hacked into his account.” On the other side, Dolphins general manager Chris Grier, talking after the team had chosen Tunsil, said: “We’re very comfortable with all the information we have on the situation. We had heard rumors and we had done our [research].”

Regardless of whether the individual in the video was indeed Tunsil smoking marijuana, and regardless of who posted it, the mere appearance of impropriety has cost Laremy Tunsil millions.

Jason Belzer, Esq. is Founder of GAME, Inc. and a Professor of Organizational Behavior and Sports Law at Rutgers University. Follow him on Twitter @JasonBelzer.

albert • May 4, 2016 6:41 PM

@Clive,
“…In some professions the use of twitter is made a requirment by advertisers and the like, who expect you to bring followers into their sphere of influence….”

It’s a conundrum. People are incredibly stupid regarding all things Internet. From CEOs to backwoods goobers. It’s gonna stay that way as long as folks continue to believe everything they read. The future belongs to the Judas goats, as it always has.

Folks have suffered a lot worse than Tunsil, so no crocodile tears for him.

This is nothing more than a tempest in a teapot; a $7M teapot, but a teapot nonetheless.

OTOH, teams could save a whole of money on draft picks if they ______ _______ ______ _____ ________.

. .. . .. — ….

Mike • May 4, 2016 9:11 PM

Don’t care about any of that. Can he block?

Josh B • May 5, 2016 12:07 AM

Was expecting hookers and a rape boat, but got… pot smoking? If that’s all it was, then his potential #1 pick was wildly optimistic and hardly affected. The NFL has covered up for much larger than that.

Drone • May 5, 2016 1:23 AM

Punished for smoking weed by a professional sports organization that is riddled with illegal and harmful performance enhancing drugs. That’s rich…

SoWhatDidYouExpect • May 5, 2016 1:37 AM

He wasn’t under contract yet so there can be no contractual requirement that he be on Twitter. Further, from the alleged video, there is no proof that he was behind the mask. The notion that these targets …ah, potential draft picks… must use social media, could be a contrived convenience (of someone) to create this type of issue for some purpose (gee, maybe changing the draft pick order or even producing a situation that brings down the price).

This will all change when people stop buying tickets to those games or taxpayers reject financing stadiums for the already super-rich.

Wael • May 5, 2016 1:50 AM

Hard to explain a picture with “bong and smoke”, and that’s doubly true if your name sounds like “tonsil”, because that means you definitely inhaled it! People who judged him know how to explain it when they’re caught – pure hypocrisy. He should have stuck with the spiked chocolates! Oh well, poor OPSEC workmanship is dreadfully costly!

Life is like a box of chocolates… Some make you more hungry, and some make you fat. (With warm regards to Forrest Gump’s mother)

Godel • May 5, 2016 7:04 PM

Here’s another version of the story, sans ad-blocker,uh, blocking.

http://nypost.com/2016/05/04/laremy-tunsil-probably-knows-who-hacked-his-twitter-account/

Apparently he also tried to borrow money from a team coach before the draft, which is a no-no. This article says it’s likely a previously fired manager who did the deed while in possession of Tunsil’s old cell phone.

Joe Dude • May 5, 2016 7:55 PM

Forbes blocks, moron. Lackys feel free to defend.

A Nonny Bunny • May 7, 2016 3:28 PM

SoWhatDidYouExpect

Further, from the alleged video, there is no proof that he was behind the mask.

Aside from the fact he took the mask off.
I honestly couldn’t care less, but they showed it on The Daily Show.

Sam Greenfield • May 8, 2016 9:44 AM

Half the comments on this post are about avoiding a five second ad interstitial. Except for the one comment that just copies and pastes the contents of the article. Nice. How should news organizations make money?

Hey Bruce, how about at least taking off the blatant copyright violation?

Moderator • May 8, 2016 11:34 AM

@Sam Greenfield: You have a point. @All: When citing to published material, please post relevant snippets only, not full text.

Schneier on Security

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