|
|
"A comprehensive, collaborative elections resource."
|
Feds consider going undercover on social networks
|
|---|
| Parent(s) |
Issue
|
| Contributor | particleman |
| Last Edited | particleman Mar 17, 2010 10:50pm |
| Logged |
0
|
| Category | News |
| Author | Declan McCullagh |
| News Date | Wednesday, March 17, 2010 04:00:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | The next friend request you receive might come from the FBI.
The Obama administration has considered sending federal police undercover on social-networking sites, including Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter.
A confidential U.S. Department of Justice presentation (PDF) on social-networking sites made public Tuesday said online undercover work can help agents "communicate with suspects," "gain access to nonpublic info," and "map social relationships."
Federal police agencies organized under the Justice Department include the FBI, the U.S. Marshals, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
The 33-page presentation noted that Twitter has a "stated policy of producing data only in response to legal process," while saying Facebook is "often cooperative with emergency requests."
For years, FBI agents have gone undercover on the Web for child porn sting operations. One technique that the bureau has used involves logging in to a discussion forum, posting hyperlinks that purport to be illegal videos of minors having sex, and then raiding the homes of anyone willing to click on them.
One possible hurdle that the lawyers at the Justice Department noted in their presentation, which was given by John Lynch and Jenny Ellickson, both attorneys in the department's Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, is the possibility of violating a Web site's terms of service, if an agent lies about his identity.
This is called prosecutors being too clever by half: in the Lori Drew case, the Justice Department claimed (PDF) that violating MySpace terms of service was a criminal offense. |
| Share |
|
|
2¢
|
|
| Article | Read Full Article |
|
| Date |
Category |
Headline |
Article |
Contributor |
|
|
