Undercover Feds On Social Networking Sites Raises Questions

The next time someone tries to “friend” you on Facebook, it may turn out to be an undercover fed looking to examine your private messages and photos, or surveil your friends and family. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has obtained an internal Justice Department document that describes what law enforcement is doing on social networking sites.

The 33-page document shows that law enforcement agents from local police to the FBI and Secret Service have been logging on to MySpace and other sites undercover to communicate with suspects, read private postings and view photos and videos that are restricted to a user’s friends...

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Feds Consider Going Undercover On Social Networks

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."...