Saturday, October 23, 2010
Site Sends Personal IDs When Ads Are Clicked, a Journal Investigation Finds
MySpace and some popular applications on the social-networking site have been transmitting data to outside advertising companies that could be used to identify users, a Wall Street Journal investigation has found.
The information was primarily sent by MySpace when users clicked on ads. The website had pledged to discontinue the practice of sending personal data when users click on ads after the Journal reported it in May.
A MySpace spokesman said the data identify the user profile being viewed but not necessarily the person who clicked on the ad. MySpace is owned by News Corp., which also owns The Wall Street Journal...
[Full Article]
Labels: information, MySpace, News Corp, privacy
Thursday, March 18, 2010
In the slides of what appears to be a DOJ PowerPoint presentation from Aug. 2009 titled "Obtaining and Using Evidence from Social Networking Sites," the major social networking sites are examined for their utility and tendency to cooperate.
Facebook is described as "Often cooperative with emergency requests."
MySpace "requires a search warrant for private messages/bulletins less than 181 days old."
Under the Twitter heading, they list the "good news" that "most Twitter content is public," but then go on to list several bits of "bad news" like "Stated policy of producing data only in response to legal process" and "no contact phone number."
And while the DOJ had very little to say about getting info from LinkedIn, they do point out that the business-centric network "can be used to identify experts" and to "check background of defense experts." Which is kind of scary, considering how they also point out that "profile information is not checked for reliability."
Labels: Department of Justice, DOJ, Facebook, Justice Department, MySpace, Twitter
WASHINGTON — Criminals beware! US law enforcement authorities may be stalking you on Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn or Twitter.
Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) documents obtained by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) reveal some of the ways the FBI and tax agents are allowed to use social networks for investigative purposes.
The documents were posted this week on the website of the EFF after being obtained through a lawsuit filed under the Freedom of Information Act by the San Francisco-based electronic rights group and the Samuelson Clinic of the University of California, Berkeley...
Labels: EFF, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Facebook, Internal Revenue Service, IRS, Justice Department, MySpace, privacy, surveillance, Twitter
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...
Labels: EFF, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Facebook, FBI, Federal Bureau of Investigation, feds, MySpace, privacy, surveillance, Wired
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