Q. One of my Facebook “friends” let my ex log onto their account and pretend to be them. Now my ex plans to use some of my posts and pictures to prove I’m an unfit parent. Letting someone else use your account is a violation of Facebook rules, so can’t I ask the judge to exclude this kind of evidence?

A. The use of electronic communications and social networks has exploded in the last few years, and family law hasn’t quite caught up yet. There really isn’t much guidance, as of yet, in legislation, rules or case law as to what kinds of information may be discovered or offered as evidence during family law litigation.

Some points being debated are highly technical, such as when electronic communications like email can be considered to have been delivered to the receiver, and when the receiver takes possession of them. For example, if email is stored on the service provider’s remote server and is not downloaded to the customer’s computer, does the customer have possession of the email? If so, do they take possession when the email appears in their inbox, or when they actually open it?

Other considerations concern whether there can be any expectation of privacy regarding information that is posted on social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. If you set your account to “private,” can another party introduce into evidence damaging information you posted there? What if you “friended” them and knowingly gave them access to your account? What if you excluded them from your account but they got the information from one of your other “friends?”

No one knows how long it will take to settle these issues. The process is likely to include some combination of legislation and appellate court rulings, and could take years. Of course, while today’s issues are being debated, technology will continue to evolve, and new issues will continue to arise.

In the meantime, family law judges can be expected to continue taking into consideration any evidence presented to them that appears relevant and has not been specifically excluded by law. However, even if emails and Facebook postings are admitted into evidence, there are no rules regarding how much weight the judge has to give them.

The wisest course at this time is to assume that nothing you transmit or receive electronically is truly private. If you are, or may be, involved in litigation, take a minute before you hit the “send” button and ask yourself: Do I want a judge reading this? If potentially damaging postings or pictures are already out there, be sure to disclose this to your attorney so that you can prepare for the possibility they will be used against you.