Difference between revisions of "Social Media Websites in Investigations"
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The Basics of e-Discovery]</ref>. | The Basics of e-Discovery]</ref>. | ||
Revision as of 05:58, 26 March 2018
The widespread adoption of twenty-first century social media concentrated vast quantities of user data, in many forms including status updates and photos, as well as user metadata, on user location, media consumption habits, and social “association,” into central databases. This data and metadata has proven useful not only to the users who create it and the social media platforms which harvest it for profit, but also to third parties who can gather insights from other entities’ data. Many of the third parties who collect others’ data are government agencies like the NSA, which has myriad methods of obtaining intelligence from the social media usage of persons-of-interest [1].Non-government institutions also syndicate social media information for other purposes. For example, American collegiate institutions have begun to use social media in the admissions screening process [2]. Employers also make use of social media screening tools to screen candidates. [3].
Who has the right to conduct social media investigations? Do social media investigations infringe upon citizens' privacy rights? Do constitutional rights extend to social media? These are just a few of the ethical quandaries that ought to be considered in the use of social media for investigations.
Contents
Technology
Social media investigations are conducted through social media aggregators such as Skopenow.com. Governments and business can gain accesses to individuals' social media footprints on Skopenow by simply entering the person-of-interests' (POIs) name and home location into the platform. Users can add additional inputs, such as the POIs phone number, address, age, and educational history, to augment the accuracy of the search. Once this information is inputed, Skopenow instantaneously compiles a report including the person-of-interests social media profiles, addresses, phone numbers, family members, and beyond. Skopenow then uses advanced textual and image analysis to find content to 'flag' for review; this technology is capable of automatically recognizing posts and images including the use of alcohol, drugs, weapons, profanity, racism, violence, and other customizable keywords.
Some other large social media investigation platforms include:
- Trustify (https://www.trustify.info/)
- X1 Social Discovery (https://www.x1.com/products/x1_social_discovery/)
- SMIAware (https://smiaware.com/)
- SocialNet (https://smiaware.com/)
Government
Many government agencies, such as the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, are increasingly using social media in order to monitor persons-of-interest. Government agencies are able to leverage social media platforms in order to conduct investigations by looking for evidence found throughout posts, images, comments, videos, and other content posted on these platforms.
In 2015, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was able to prevent a potential school shooting at the University of Chicago through monitoring posts on social media [4]
In 2017, The Department of Homeland Security announced that it would begin collecting social media information on all immigrants currently living within the United States - including naturalized citizens. [5]
Private Investigation
Social Media is also becoming increasingly prevalent in the realm of social media investigations. Private investigators are using social media content in order to gain more knowledge about their person-of-interest, such as harnessing its metadata to better track suspects, for skip tracing and bounty hunting.
Insurance
Insurance fraud is an $80 Billion dollar industry per year [6]. Insurance Firms are increasingly using social media in order to conduct social media investigations. These investigations are becoming commonplace in a variety of insurance verticals such as life insurance, health insurance, and car insurance.
- Health Insurance
Many insurance carriers are commonly conducting social media investigations on patients to spot any inconsistencies within their applications. For example, healthcare insurance providers can check to see whether their patients are lying about being smokers, drinkers, or drug-users.
- Worker's Compensation Claims
Insurance carriers are conducting social media investigations on workers' compensation cases, by finding images of their person-of-interest conducting physical activities, after having applied for a workers' compensation claim.
- Car Insurance
A small number of automative insurance providers are now conducting social media investigations to spot any wrongdoing behind the wheel, such as taking photos or screenshots on the cellphone while driving. An unidentified man made headlines in 2015 when his insurance scam was busted on social media. After a video surfaced on social media of the man (seemingly purposefully) driving his one-million dollar Bugatti into a lake in order to benefit from an insurance payout, he was convicted for what is considered the "largest single attempted car scam in history [7]."
Law
An increasingly large number of law firms are now using social media as part of the evidence discovery process, in a process that has now been coined as "e-Discovery" [8].
Higher Education
An increasing number of universities are conducting social media investigations on their prospective applicants in order to identify instances of underage drinking, drug use, hate speech, and other unwanted behavior. In one notable instance in 2017, Harvard University rescinded the offers of 10 incoming freshman based on posts that were later discovered on social media [9]
Ethical Implications
Social media contains a vast amount of information in the form of posts, comments, images, videos, and beyond. This information, which is often publicly available on individuals' profiles, is increasingly being used by governments, businesses, and other institutions, to access knowledge that would otherwise be unavailable. The use of social media in investigations by entities such as governments, private investigators, insurance firms, law firms, and universities prompts a variety of ethical questions and implications for society, such as who should have the right to conduct social media investigations, and whether these social media investigations infringe upon citizens' rights to privacy.
- Government
The use of social media websites in investigations has many ethical implications, especially surrounding the use of social media investigations by governments. For example, do social media investigations impede upon citizens' rights to privacy?
In the United States, for example, the constitution outlines a variety of personal protections granted to citizens to prevent government intrusion into citizens' personal lives. For example, the fourth amendment states, "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized (National Archives, Constitution ... https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs)."
Are these same constitutional rights afforded to citizens on social media? Many opponents suggest that citizens are not adequately protected from the government on social media. In many ways, information obtained on social media is much more personal than information that could otherwise be obtained without a search warrant.
Proponents of this government intervention suggest that social media investigations help to keep the public safer, especially in the case of monitoring terrorism threats; additionally, all the information being accessed is public, meaning that information is already discoverable by anyone on the internet.
- Liquid Surveillance?
David Lyon coins the term "liquid surveillance" to describe "a way of situating surveillance developments in the fluid and unsettling modernity of society." Given the constant advancements in technological developments, citizens are unsure of their digital privacy
See Also
References
- ↑ FACEBOOK IS A 'SURVEILLANCE COMPANY' THAT EXPLOITS USER DATA
- ↑ Watch what you tweet: Social media can affect college admissions
- ↑ European employers must warn job applicants before checking them out on Facebook
- ↑ FBI warns to watch those social media posts — or face the consequences
- ↑ DHS Planning To Collect Social Media Info on All Immigrants
- ↑ [http://www.insurancefraud.org/statistics.htm Insurance Fraud Statistics ]
- ↑ Investigators Combing Social Media to Expose Insurance Scams
- ↑ [https://cdslegal.com/knowledge/the-basics-what-is-e-discovery/ The Basics of e-Discovery]
- ↑ These are the memes that caused Harvard to rescind offers to 10 incoming freshmen
