Social mediaDHS social media monitoring policy under fire

DHS’ tactics of gathering intelligence via social media has drawn sharp criticism from privacy advocates with one group filing a lawsuit against the department.

On 20 December the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against DHS demanding that the agency release records on its covert surveillance of Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms.

According to DHS, the agency creates accounts to monitor social media sites, scanning sites for keywords like “dirty bomb,” “hostage,” “task force,” but does not post information, connect with other users, or accept invitations.

In April EPIC requested more information from the agency in an effort to clarify DHS’ policy on gathering data on social networks. Marc Rotenberg, the executive director of EPIC, said the group’s request has gone unanswered even though the agency is required under law to make the information available to the public when asked, if the records are available for release.

“We want to know how they’re collecting information online, what they’re collecting online and if there’s legal basis to do this,” Rotenberg said. “We are trying to understand what the circumstances are when the DHS is engaged in tracking to social media sites.”

In a statement DHS said the National Operations Center “will gather, store, analyze, and disseminate relevant and appropriate de-identified information to federal, state, local, and foreign governments, and private sector partners authorized to receive situational awareness and a common operating picture.”

Brad Garrett, a former FBI agent, said the agency’s social media policy is fairly standard.

“One of the biggest overlooked areas of the federal government when it comes to crime and terrorism is diligently searching public source information,” Garrett explained.

Garrett said that DHS cannot view private information unless they have a search warrant, but individuals often post private details in public forums.

“People today are very open about their thoughts and feelings on a number of different topics. It amazes me the amount of information people will write about themselves online. There’s a false security about the anonymity of sitting in front of a computer screen and saying things you wouldn’t say in public or in front of your parents or your spouse,” said Garrett.

“It’s one of those things that the government should be doing as long as they’re obeying the law. I can’t tell you how many bad guys have been caught because they do something bad and then post about it online,” he added.