Facebook and the police - a story.

This doesn't relate to any PARTICULAR conspiracy, as such, but I posted it within this section because it is probably the most appropriate (so many of you can rant about BIG BROTHER and such, as I'm sure you will.)

My aim, however, is to just relate a simple story I was made aware of last night, as I am interested to what you all have to say about it.

A friend of mine was recently arrested and is currently on bail for armed robbery on a pair of taxi cabs with a weapon. I am not going to go into who my friend is, or indeed even the crime involved, but I want to tell you all what happened once he got to the police station.

So they arrest him, and put him in a room alone with a few policemen. They question him, about whether he did it, GOOD COP BAD COP etc etc. What I found interesting, was that during all this they showed him his:

facebook profile pictures
other images from his facebook profile
information about his friends on facebook
posts on twitter

and indeed he had police from PLAISTOW, a whole different part of London, come into question him because while roaming through his online data they came across threats on twitter (which were simply a joke between him and another user) that he was going to blow up the Stratford Centre and Westfields shopping centre.

Now, I find this all very interesting as it shows just to what an extent your information can be used against you. We all know friends, family etc who post debatable information on their social networking sites (i.e. drug use etc) and they just don't know what a risk it is!

reply to post by PeaceUk


This is exactly why people need to think more closely about what information they post on the web.

Whether or not the threats about blowing something up were intentional, or were meant to be a joke, that's not how an authority is going to see them.
Tones of voice, etc. aren't present on the internet, and so everyone's perceptions of what seems to be a harmless conversation, could be something very different.

On the topic of Big Brother type things, I think that it's both right and wrong to be able to be monitored like this. It means that when a really serious crime has taken place, or can be prevented, they have sufficient evidence to warrant doing something to prevent it / catching someone. For example, the killer who foolishly posted his whereabouts on Facebook, and was then caught days later.

At the same time, it's worrying to know how much information TPTB will undoubtedly have about me, my friends, my hobbies, the sites I frequent, my personality, etc... Whether we're comfortable with that reality or not is something we can't alter. The reality is that in the digital world, it's increasingly easy to monitor the populace, and it can only get worse.

People need to realize when it comes to the internet, there is no privacy.
If there are people watching the internet for pedophiles, crimes, etc, doesnt that make them capable of monitoring everything that goes on?
Just a few key words and I'm sure a lot can come up under my name.
I have recently been made aware of the dangers of FB myself.

I lost my job because a friend of mine posted a picture on FB. I was not even tagged, and the album was set to PRIVATE! I will not go into further details. To say the least, I learned my lesson on internet privacy.

reply to post by InnerTruths


Frankly, in your case, I think it's shocking that employers monitor their job candidates / employees Facebook pages for things, I'm sure which are similar to whatever you're referring to, which is done in their private life.. If we want to go out on the weekend and get drunk, what's the harm, if we're back to work on Monday morning, fresh faced and proactive?

For the people that post statuses, and the like, which directly slander their boss, or co-workers, they deserve any punishments they get, for being so ignorant.

reply to post by Robbed In Albion.


I agree with you about it being both a positive and negative advancement. What worries me the most, is not the fact that the police and other authorities moniter the sites, it's that the people using the sites consider them to be a SAFE and FRIENDLY environment.
No, that is wrong. You have to be so diligent about what you post - I was even wary about posting this subject because who knows if the police are monitoring THIS, and used this as evidence in the case? That's why I was wary about mentioning anything to do with the particular crime.

Most people just seem to post uncensored content, in both their public and private social networing environments (private meaning user to user messages etc). They forget that even if they think they are sending the message to one person, their is always the eye of FACEBOOK looking over their shoulder.

Firstly, we can blame the creator of Facebook for selling all the information thats put on it, he admits he'd sell more if he could.

Here in Australia it has been used to hunt down pedophiles. I dont think anyone but scum like them can complain about that.

If your friend is so stupid to make terrorist threats, even as a joke, on a website KNOWN to sell your info, then he's where he belongs.

The reports on Facebooks total lack of security are everywhere, more fool those that use it.

reply to post by PeaceUk

reply to post by SNAFU38


That's the thing. It's a common fact now-a-days that the information isn't private, and that everything you do is / can be monitored. The fact is, if people are stupid enough to post things like that on a public website, hell, on the internet, then they deserve what they get for virtually owning up to it.

reply to post by Robbed In Albion.


I agree. Those who are completely ignorant to "privacy" will soon learn how invaluable it is to protect it.
In my case, the pictures were from a camping trip up north. To say the least, booze was not the only thing I consumed.

What I don't understand is, how the employers found the pictures when it was a private album. My friend was aware of the "dangers" but thought it would be safe to share with those attended. No one that I know there worked or was affiliated to what I did for employment at the time.

I pretty much deleted my account. It exists, but I haven't logged in since it happened.

You'd be amazed how many people post incriminating things on facebook that turn up in court cases and/or get them fired, or have friends that post it. Setting it to private just means only people on your friends list can see it (or your friend's friends), but that doesn't mean they won't print it out or give someone else access to print it out if they don't agree with what you're doing. Doesn't make it right, but it happens all the time.

Hi,

Ever condidered looking for new friends?

Re the topic; Maybe I'm a Luddite but I refuse to join any network other than this one...for just the reasons you stated. 'Any evidence may be held against you....'

Peace!

There is a way to delete your account forever, and have all your information removed off the site.

www.facebook.com...

or visit this group for more information.

www.facebook.com...

reply to post by InnerTruths


I would assume that whether or not the album is private, if an employer wanted to view something affiliated to you, they could.

You say you weren't even tagged in the photo?
That is odd, but it's just another lesson learned in the dangers of the internet; Never post anything incriminating if you don't want other people to see it.

While we all have to becareful about what we post in the online community, Im not sure if I have any sympathy for a thief.

reply to post by Le Colonel


I don't think that the topic at hand is whether or not anyone has sympathy for any individual cases here, more that we need to be more aware of what is 'private' and what is 'private, but we'll let everyone have a peek anyway'.

reply to post by Le Colonel


Robbed In Albion is right - this has nothing to do with with an individual case. You don't know anything about the story involved, so it's not fair to call my friend a 'thief'.

Originally posted by PeaceUk
There is a way to delete your account forever, and have all your information removed off the site.

www.facebook.com...

or visit this group for more information.

www.facebook.com...

thanks for the link! just deleted me account!

reply to post by InnerTruths


Excellent!

Would love to jump on the bandwagon, but unfortunately, I use FB to keep in contact with too many people, who I may else lose touch with otherwise..

Roll on the ATS version of FB where private means private!

Tell me about it!

I happened to be round a friend's house last year when they were suddenly raided by the Police!

Turned out, their stupid son had joked about something 'rude' on line to a female, hysterical school friend who then reported him to the Police for his joke.

Their computers were taken, the son dragged off to the police station, the parents were threatened with having their little children taken into care. To be honest, the whole thing was horrific.

What was more horrific, was once we actually read what was said on line were understood immeadiately that it was a stupid joke and it was also obvious that the police and the social services also knew it was a joke.

For three months this family lived in HELL!

Finally a socail worker returned to them and told them that in a few years they would 'all be laughing' about this and they were no longer being investigated and the son was also totally innocent and ...Goodbye!

My children are NEVER allowed onto Facebook or any social networking or chat line. I have warned them if I ever find them chatting on line the Internet WILL be off limits for them as long as they live with me.

Having seen the effects on my friends and their children I understand that too many people have no idea what they are opening themselves up to by even being on line never mind joking on line.

The family were told by social services that they and we all can SAY anything we like, but if we WRITE it down we can be prosecuted!

Bear that in mind everyone, please!!!

Yep, police and employers and anyone you might know is going to check your name online and look at everything it shows up under, which is by no stretch of the imagine limited to Facebook or Twitter or any other social networking sites.

And even beyond this, if they want to pay a bit of money, they can get even more information, like your credit ratings, social security record, marital status, criminal record, and so on and so forth.

There really is no such thing as privacy anymore.

If someone knows your name and the general geographical location, Google (Earth or maps) can take them right to your front door, geographical coordinates and all.

Frankly, I'm shocked there are not more cases of random virtual strangers showing up at people's front doors. Maybe people aren't as crazy as we've been lead to believe. Or maybe in some countries it helps if you have guns out in the general population

P.S. Seeing as this is now a fact of life if you're online, just be careful what you put out there. And also remember that even if you don't put something out there, nefarious forces can very easily frame you or make assumptions that are in no way true.

There are some tools available that help you hide your information, but these are generally pretty hard for the average person to both understand and use, and in addition they are circumventable by other tools.

So it comes down to a lot of personal actions decisions. The first hide your NAME from anyone and everyone online.

[edit on 7/25/2010 by ~Lucidity]

Dont use those stupid sites. They are not there for your entertainment. They are there so the cia can make a profile on just about every citizen. The maker of face book called every one that uses it stupid because the cia runs it. Just dont use those sites and if you do dont use your real name or pics.