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Open Categories Menu Big Brother IS watching: the feds in social media
- 23 March, 2010 -
- Politics, Social Media -
- Tags : Politics, Social Media
- 2 Comments
First we had Please Rob Me outlining the best time to burgle your friend’s house from foursquare information. Now we have the IRS and the Justice Department training their agents on how to use social media to collect useful information about you.
I know this sounds conspiracy theorist, but it’s not. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has actually collected training documents from the feds detailing procedures.
- IRS training material on how to search social media, google streetview to investigate taxpayer’s and their business
- Department of Justice powerpoint slides detailing social media companies data rentention policies and how well they cooperate with investigations (facebook does, twitter doesn’t)
Also, I know that the feds aren’t the only governmental body using what you publish on the Internet against you. I personally know someone who was audited by the Arkansas Department of Revenue because of the professionalism of their web site (I guess we all know who is next after this post).
The questions are:
Is this a sign that the times are changing?
The government budget cut backs are involving the use of social media to do these investigations?
I don’t think it’s because of cut backs, it’s probably because it’s an easier way to catch people. I always look for the easier way. Water always flows down hill.