For better or for worse, many people are
now living their lives openly online. While many people understand
social media etiquette and appropriate levels of disclosure, many do
not. For the latter, living in a connected world can have some serious
drawbacks, especially if they're a criminal.
The Dumb and the
Restless
Refraining from posting on social media sites about crimes committed may
seem common sense, but the web is already littered with stories of
people whose common sense must've been lacking when they incriminated
themselves to their entire online networks.
A
FOX News story tells the story of a 19-year old Pennsylvania boy
who in the midst of a burglary stopped and accessed his Facebook
account. Unfortunately for him, he forgot to close his account when he
was finished.
However, criminals don't leave a webpage open to get caught. In March, a
New Jersey boy made headlines when he used the intercom at a local
Wal-Mart to ask "all the black people to leave." State police were able
to search social media sites for related posts and found the kids
"bragging."
Yet another case of social media justice took place in Surprise,
Arizona where Facebook and Craigslist were used to catch a thief
and return stolen goods to their rightful owner. After buying a
watch on Craigslist, the buyer discovered that it was registered to
someone else. He began to contact Facebook users with that name to find
the owner and was successful. The buyer was able to identify the man by
police lineup, and the thief was apprehended.
Online Law Enforcement
For law enforcement and government agencies, social media websites are
information goldmines. The Electronic
Frontier Foundation (EFF), a non-profit digital rights advocacy group,
has been researching how these agencies are using social media to fight
crime.
The EFF
released a document from the U.S. Justice Department, which
outlines the ways that government is using social media to track users
and entice them to provide details, often with undercover agents posing
as "friends." The document entitled "Obtaining
and Using Evidence from Social Networking Sites" provides details
on various social networks, how they operate, and how to get information
from profiles on each site.
Ethics Called Into
Question
Law enforcement is also trying to issue subpoenas to social media sites
for information about users. For example, The
New York Times reports that authorities in Pennsylvania are trying to
subpoena Twitter for the names of two users who criticized the state's
attorney general. Although Twitter has not complied with the order, this
case is being protested by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of
Pennsylvania as a violation of freedom of speech.
What are your thoughts on online crime fighting? Are law
enforcement's social media strategies unfair, or should criminals know better than to post incriminating information online if they don't
want to be caught?
Resources
"About EFF." EFF.org. Web. 24 May 2010. <http://www.eff.org/about>
"Cyber Crime." Online Image. February 2003. TCU Magazine. 26
May 2010.
<http://www.magarchive.tcu.edu/images/2003-02/cyber%20crime.gif>
Hofmann, Marcia. "EFF Posts Documents Detailing Law Enforcement
Collection of Data from Social Media Sites." EFF.org. 16 March 2010.
Web. 24 May 2010.
<http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/03/eff-posts-documents-detailing-law-enforcement>
Lynch, John and Jenny Ellickson. "Obtaining and Using Evidence from
Social Networking Sites." Computer Crime & Intellectual Property
Section. EFF.org. Web. 24 May 2010.
<http://www.eff.org/files/filenode/social_network/20100303__crim_socialnetworking.pdf>
Macedo, Diane. "Caught Web-Handed: Social Media Become Valuable in
Crime-Fighting." Foxnews.com. 18 March 2010. Web. 24 May 2010.
<http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/03/18/caught-web-handed-social-media-valuable-tool-crime-fighting/>
McCullough, Jolie. "Social Media Helps Catch Thief, Return Item."
AZcentral.com. 18 March 2010. Web. 24 May 2010.
<http://www.azcentral.com/community/surprise/articles/2010/03/18/20100318facebook-helps-find-theif-abrk0318.html>
Schwartz, John. "Twitter Fighting Pennsylvania Subpoena Seeking Names
of 2 Tweeters." The New York
Times. 20 May 2010. Web. 24 May 2010.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/21/technology/21twitter.html?ref=internet>
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