Beware of "Facebook Feds" as Website Becomes #1 in Traffic
Break the law and your new 'friend' may be the FBI
Facebook feds go undercover: Document shows federal agents dipping quietly into social media
By Richard Lardner
Tuesday March 16, 2010, 11:51 am
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Feds are on Facebook. And MySpace, LinkedIn and Twitter, too.
U.S. law enforcement agents are following the rest of the Internet world into popular social-networking services, going undercover with false online profiles to communicate with suspects and gather private information, according to an internal Justice Department document that offers a tantalizing glimpse of issues related to privacy and crime-fighting.
Think you know who's behind that "friend" request? Think again. Your new "friend" just might be the FBI.
The document, obtained in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, makes clear that U.S. agents are already logging on surreptitiously to exchange messages with suspects, identify a target's friends or relatives and browse private information such as postings, personal photographs and video clips.
Among other purposes: Investigators can check suspects' alibis by comparing stories told to police with tweets sent at the same time about their whereabouts. Online photos from a suspicious spending spree -- people posing with jewelry, guns or fancy cars -- can link suspects or their friends to robberies or burglaries.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco-based civil liberties group, obtained the Justice Department document when it sued the agency and five others in federal court. The 33-page document underscores the importance of social networking sites to U.S. authorities. The foundation said it would publish the document on its Web site on Tuesday.
With agents going undercover, state and local police coordinate their online activities with the Secret Service, FBI and other federal agencies in a strategy known as "deconfliction" to keep out of each other's way.
More:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Break-the-law-and-your-new-apf...
Google Dethroned: Facebook Reaches Top Ranking in US as New Traffic Trends Emerge
by admin on March 16, 2010
Are Americans now more likely to get content from their friends than random Web sites that they wouldn’t be able to find on their own? That’s one of the implications of a report out Monday by Internet research company Hitwise, which found that Facebook passed Google as the most visited Web site in the U.S. last week.
Facebook reached an important milestone for the week ending March 13, 2010 and surpassed Google in the US to become the most visited website for the week.
See graph and more:
I just don't see the appeal of Facebook.
Throw government spooks into the mix and it looks even less appealing.
I'm respected by numerous
I'm respected by numerous friends and family. Friends going back decades, family spread to all corners of the U.S.
There's no possible way I can walk them through our pro liberty views one by one.
facebook is priceless in this respect.
i showed hundreds of videos, and articles, wrote my own articles
the creme of the crop. my facebook page was regurgitating stuff from jack hunter, rj harris, ron and rand paul, debra medina, von mises, ayn rand, the list is endless.
i've been working on these people who know me personally for well over a year.
I had people ask me questions, I was surprised by some of those who "took the blinders off", I also learned who the dyed in the wool neocons were...
you don't know what you're missing, because it's a tool you've never experienced.
there was a man who had six children. he's a good man. and his children our good people (all adults now, with their own kids)... they are my cousins, with spouses and kids.
and they were all Fox-swilling neocons.
well i dramatically changed their perspective. i'm not complete, but more then half of them, including the spouses are now aware of the false dichotomy.
i've educated dozens through facebook, and reinforced others ...
the spooks are on there, because THEY ARE SCARED TO DEATH OF AN AMERICA THAT TURNS OFF THEIR TV AND TURNS TO EACH OTHER FOR TRUTH.
i'm sorry you haven't experienced this tool. it's just another part of the internet. much like the dailypaul is a tool for learning. so is facebook.
but have it your way...
Also agree. Like the Net and Bible as well as almost anything...
else (guns, a hammer, dynamite, a stove, a car, etc.), most things have a great potential for both good and evil. People are the deciding factors for making them either good or evil.
Facebook has a lot to offer, but there is a potential downside.
I agree with you
Priceless.
I have woken a few up and have not lost any friends in the process.
We can preach to the choir on DP or we can touch real sleepy heads out there!
For Freedom!
STUGOTS! To the high and felutent establishment!
Paultian Powerhouse!
Its good that you're reaching a wide audience out there.
A while ago I posted a thread about "The Experience Project".
Its basically a Q & A and stories website that I think is connected to Facebook (not sure about this).
I had a great time on there until I got barred from asking questions.
I quit shortly after.
My antipathy towards Facebook stems from the culture that surrounds it in the UK. Lots of bitchiness, malicious gossip and mischief.
Dwfrider?
Are we friends?
"I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."
-- Thomas Jefferson
re:Dwfrider?
don't know. give me some oblique clue...
d
Why would you be breaking the
Why would you be breaking the law?
Why would the law man be using deception?
The law man can lie to you, but you cannot lie to the law man?
Hmm....
Ron Paul's Convention Speech
That AP Article Has Been Heavily Edited Since Posted Here
One good quote that is missing is this:
Think you know who's behind that "friend" request? Think again. Your new "friend" just might be the FBI.
Here's the original:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h9d9ecbek2...
Ron Paul's Convention Speech
sempiternal, I tend to copy more than I should for that reason.
What you thought you initially saw is gone or worse yet "redacted." Then one starts to second guess themselves.
Good followup to the original post.
duplicate post
.
Strange Myspace Story for you
So, Myspace (and facebook) is set up so that you can keep your pictures/blog entries private except for when you grant explicit access to anybody on your "friend's list." It's generally a good setting that keeps you fairly invisible except to people who you already know.
Well, one day about 3 or 4 years ago I logged into a myspace account and discovered 2 new accounts mysteriously found their way on my friend's list. This came to a shock to me, since I studiously rejected any friend-quest from somebody I didn't know. They were easy to spot anyway because, not being very big on social websites to begin with -- I only had 20 or so friends. These two new accounts stuck out like a sore thumb. When I clicked on either of their profiles to see who they were, they both had no pictures and both did not have any entries. They were just blank accounts.
That same day, "Tom" sent a mass notice to everyone saying that there was some glitch in the system, not to worry if there were some new accounts saved under your friends list, and not to delete them -- they would fix everything in no time.
Needless to say, I didn't take Tom's advice and deleted the 2 accounts.
I have a blog entries about 9/11 and several more mentioning Ron Paul.
Later that week, my "private" profile was somehow changed to "public," without my notice or consent. When I contacted their support, they just sent me some autoresponder generic message about how to set it back to private.
Too late, I figured. Even if those 2 accounts turned out to be nothing, like "Tom" suggested then after that -- some bot somewhere, surely already indexed me...
I'm a thought criminal
I'm a thought criminal anyway, so I use Facebook to spread news and current event stories out mainly to people that I have befriended in life then moved away from. I do it to show them that all that crazy stuff I used to tell them, that they didn't believe, really does exist in the world.
Sun BURNT STICK
lmao
"I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."
-- Thomas Jefferson
Lol, look who funded face
Lol, look who funded face book, don't use that shit unless you want to be a part of a huge datamining project that cannot be anything good.
“One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.” Plato
I'm right with you on that,
I'm right with you on that, as well as any other social media sites.
But honestly when I think about it... I hardly ever use my facebook. When I do, it's saying hello to family members/old school friends I've been out of touch with.
If they honestly want to have my favorite genre of music and movies saved, then by all means go ahead. Sure if I posted my daily schedule and personal information I may be 'mined' a little more if you want to call it that. It's basically a mini-census that businesses and our government graph us out..predictability.
Many don't realize that there is already a huge database with everyone's name on it, starting from when you get your footprint and your pin number (ss#) assigned.
But I do understand where you're coming from, I was also completely against it sometime last year. I've just stopped fearing the small things, such as facebook studying my my interests or saving a picture of an omelet i made and uploaded.
Sadly, the majority of fb users don't understand our society is being formed in a way that everyone is predictable.
"One man with courage is a majority." ~ Andrew Jackson
That is why
I am still not a member of FB.
Website:
http://www.libertypoet.com/
Twitter:
http://twitter.com/LibertyPoet
"How can we justify to the unemployed and underemployed in the United States the incredible cost of maintaining a global empire?" - Dr. Ron Paul
I'm not either. I've heard
I'm not either. I've heard too many stories of people who had their accounts permanently disabled for frivilous or stupid reasons, with no second chances or warnings, and were never able to access their account again. I'll pass on any site with draconian mods like that.
I' m a FMINO.
Facebook Member In Name Only!
I spend all of 15 minutes a month there.