FBI to monitor Facebook, Twitter, Myspace
Summary: The FBI is looking to monitor all public information posted on social networks, including Facebook, Twitter, and Myspace. The organization is asking for an app to do all the scraping automatically.
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is looking to develop a Web app that can continuously monitor social networks, including Facebook, Twitter, and Myspace, as well as various news feeds. The organization's goal is to improve its real-time intelligence when it comes to current and emerging security threats.
The plan for such an app was inadvertently revealed by the FBI's Strategic Information and Operations Center (SOIC) in a solicitation for a "Social Media Application." The FBI typically avoids openly discussing how social networks are used as an intelligence tool, but the 12-page Request for Information document (PDF, half the pages are oddly blank) reveals in detail what the organization is interested in.
The FBI specifies the following operational capabilities for the app (notice the second and last points in particular):
- Provide an automated search and scrape capability of both social networking sites and open source news sites for breaking events, crisis, and threats that meet the search parameters/keywords defined by FBI SIOC.
- Ability for user to create, define, and select parameters/key word requirements. Automated search of national news, local news, and social media networks. Examples include but are not limited to Fox News. CNN, MSNBC, Twitter, Facebook, etc.
- Ability for user to create, define, and select radius search functions that can be searched independently or in combination with an identified key word search/parameter.
- Provide automated filtering of data that has been searched and collected based on defined search parameters.
- Provide instant notifications of breaking events, incidents, and emerging threats that have been vetted and meet the defined search parameters.
- Ability to display alerts visually by geo-locating alerts onto a geospatial map. Displayed alerts should be prioritized (i.e. color coded) in accordance with FBI defined priorities.
- Ability to clear alert or maintain alert until its final resolution to be determined by the FBI designated user.
- Ability to save and archive the alerts.
- Ability for user to instantly select desired national and local news feeds to monitor breaking events and emerging threats, scrape the vetted news and social media information.
- Ability to immediately access geospatial maps with coding in addition to providing critical infrastructural layers. Preferred maps include but are not limited to Google Maps, Google 3D maps, ESRI, and Yahoo Maps.
- Ability to create templates that will allow user to quickly summarize (i.e. who, what, when, where, and why) threats/incidents identified and alerted by the application with geo-coordinates included. Ability available to immediately ingest the information into the Spot Report for time-sensitive threats/incidents.
- Ability for user to immediately disseminate the summarized threat or incident by either single alert notification or mass notification to the appropriate field office and FBI Executive Management.
- Ability to capture and summarize the investigative efforts conducted by the Field Office for resolution of the incident.
- Provide "Spot Report" folders to save and archive past reports.
- Ability to support Field offices by region by pre-designated or established tabs that will mirror the basic functional capabilities as the main SIOC site.
- Each tab should have the flexibility to make immediate changes to effectively support the mission requirements for a specific division.
- Ability to instantly search and monitor key words and strings in all "publicly available" tweets across the Twitter Site and any other "publicly available" social networking sites/forums (i.e. Facebook, MySpace, etc.).
Other parts of the document outline analytical capabilities and security requirements. This is a rare glimpse into what the FBI requires for its monitoring applications and shows just how seriously the government agency thinks about social media. The document, which was released on January 19, asks companies which might want to build such a monitoring system for the FBI to reply by February 10.
Privacy advocates have been strongly opposed to social media monitoring, especially if the data is saved and stored for long periods of time. If the scraping is limited to only publicly-available posts, however, they don't have much of an argument.
The FBI app in question would likely include the most content from Twitter and Myspace users, since both sites have users that share publicly more often than privately. As Facebook pushes its subscribe feature further and emphasizes sharing more and more, however, the social networking giant is only going to see more public content from its users, and thus so will the FBI.
See also:
- Sued by Facebook, Spam King surrenders to FBI
- US law enforcement agencies increasingly obtaining Facebook warrants
- 9/11 threats posted on White House Facebook Page
- Researchers invade Facebook with socialbots, grab 250GB of data
- British student admits hacking into Facebook
- Facebook posts rush NinjaVideo 'queen' to prison
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Talkback
And the nooose keeps tightening
The reality is, the Federal government has become the biggest enemy of all in this country. They stick their nose into everything but where it's needed (snooping on citizens, pandering to Hollywood, promoting their odious One-World order, warring for Israel and Big Oil), and then are nowhere to be found where they ARE needed (corporate oversight, banking oversight, job protection, border enforcement, etc).
About all one can count on the Feds to deliver (and this includes their enforcement agency arms, now grown to too many to name, yet funded from depleted taxpayer pockets) is continued financial mismanagement, self aggrandizement, a perennial lack of prioritization, and expansion everywhere they can throw citizenry dollars.
Lest we forget the Federal hallmark of hallmarks: LCD promotion in the name of dumbing down the nation. Net result = America continues to plummet.
Of course, we the [s]people[/s] sheeple pay for all this, so you get what you deserve. That's because the Feds know, and maintain at taxpayer expense, the golden rule of sovereignty: people are better controlled when they're paupers and puppets.
RE: FBI to monitor Facebook, Twitter, Myspace
The reality is a lot different. Even when intentions are good, the system is still full of sloppy work, indifference, incompetence and politics. Attempts to cast a little light on the process gets reactions that vary from a gentle pat on the head and vague reassurances, to outright hostility and retaliation. When common citizens get caught in the gears, the machine is imponderable and often unstoppable, so the poor souls have little hope for true justice.
It's a standard saying, but the best way to stay out of trouble is to never put anything on the web in *any* form that you wouldn't want published in the paper, laid on your boss' desk, or now, put in a police report. Facebook in particular offers another pitfall: friends. The Patriot Act has resurrected the crime of "guilt by association", so who you are friends with is a lot more significant than it used to be. When that cute Iranian college student you met in Paris and added to your Facebook list turns out to be a Revolutionary Guard officer in a couple of years, your name will get added to lists you really don't want to be on ...
FBI guilty by association... they are part of the gov.
American.... Land of the freely exploited.
FBI guilty by association...
RE: FBI to monitor Facebook, Twitter, Myspace
RE: FBI to monitor Facebook, Twitter, Myspace
RE: FBI to monitor Facebook, Twitter, Myspace
Americans need to learn a new game....
After two turns of flip the clown the clowns would know who is back in charge.
RE: FBI to monitor Facebook, Twitter, Myspace
I think spammers already have scrapping tools like this
Billions of dollars a year are already spent on Carnivore and ECHELON
RE: FBI to monitor Facebook, Twitter, Myspace
RE: FBI to monitor Facebook, Twitter, Myspace
You are correct @t2005. Once you post something on the internet (like this post), it is public so you need to think before you put anything on the internet.
Also if you try remove your information, blog, statement, etc it will cached in some search engine somewhere so your information will live in cache for nearly forever.
They better invent some AI to go with the app.
Between the fbi and cia the world of "Get Smart" and inspector gadget has truly come about. Throw in some keystone cops and 3 stooges and you have any modern gov Bureau.
RE: FBI to monitor Facebook, Twitter, Myspace
And people wonder why I advocate killing FBI agents
The FBI should never be allowed to go on fishing expeditions beyond the publicly available pages of any social media without a clear and legally signed warrant. You can read the public pages all you want, just like the newspapers. But you can't require the social media companies to aid you, just as you can't force newspapers to divulge their sources.
RE: FBI to monitor Facebook, Twitter, Myspace
RE: FBI to monitor Facebook, Twitter, Myspace
RE: FBI to monitor Facebook, Twitter, Myspace
All that this does is make it easier for them to monitor what they are most assuredly already doing and rightfully so, as they can use this information to better protect security.
Now if they monitor my private message that I send to you (not posting on your wall) on facebook without a warrant, that would not be legal.
RE: FBI to monitor Facebook, Twitter, Myspace