![]() ![]() As with most technologies, though, this is a double-edged sword. The CSI of social media evidence gathering is mostly manual, but automating it could bring new benefits: A sudden flurry of tweets coming from a specific area can indicate anything from a riot to a natural disaster. “Identify potential witnesses and indicators for evidence.” “Monitor large public events, social unrest, gang communications and criminally predicated individuals,” suggests the online pamphlet for the BlueJay browser tool, which reads like a mission statement for George Orwell’s Ministry of Truth. For only $150 a month, BrightPlanet’s “BlueJay Law Enforcement Twitter Crime Scanner” allows cops to conduct very specific searches within the Twitter firehose. While this firehose is valuable to marketers, data consulting firm BrightPlanet found a way to make it valuable (and affordable) to police departments. While basic (and free) Twitter searches provide a limited amount of results, the Twitter firehose – previously open to only the likes of search engines such as Google and Bing – blasts everything publicly available on Twitter … in real time. As Twitter heads towards its IPO, the micro-messaging service is making its exclusive “firehose” of data available (for an undisclosed fee) to a growing number of third parties. ![]() ![]() The tools are getting better because there are more ways to get at the flood of data. Instead of that one guy getting busted for a lame joke misinterpreted as a real threat, the new software has the potential to roll, Terminator-style, targeting every social media user with a shameful confession or questionable sense of humor. We may very well face a future where algorithms bust people en masse for referencing illegal “Game of Thrones” downloads, or run sweeps for insurance companies seeking non-smokers confessing to lapsing back into the habit. Recently, some schools began enlisting these services to follow students on social media and monitor for cyberbullying, and eventually others will catch on. Beyond the feds, marketers and cops, there is a growing customer base for Internet-monitoring contractors who sift through personal details readily available on the Internet. If you share something publicly on social media, “you should expect the world to read it,” said Andy Sellars, a staff attorney at the Digital Media Law Project. “And you should expect that world to include law enforcement.”Įxpect, in fact, anybody – now more than ever. Those in charge are monitoring more and more and social networks are happy to comply, especially where extra revenue is involved. Popkin, NBC News) – …Tools for monitoring Americans online are increasingly accessible and affordable to authorities, no NSA-level clearance required. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |