Canadian insurance firm Manulife has reportedly cut a depressed womans benefits because photos showing her happy were posted on Facebook.

The woman, Nathalie Blanchard, said she cannot understand how Manulife was able to access her account because she had adjusted her privacy settings so that only friends could see her posts.

Blanchard was on leave from her company IBM for over a year after she was diagnosed with depression. She claims she was having fun on her doctors advice in order to forget her problems.

Manulife confirmed it uses Facebook to investigate clients.
Facebook has already proved its use to managers who have also been found to use Facebook to check up on employees.

Facebook will share information to prevent fraud or other illegal activity. This may include sharing information with other companies, lawyers, courts or other government entities.