Facebook, the super tout.
FACEBOOK has been pilloried in the past over privacy concerns regarding the amount of personal data the company retains on users.
The willingness of users to share private data on this social forum has provided law enforcement agencies with a perfect opportunity to gather information. Facebook is fast becoming the first port of call for police investigations, offering glimpses into a person’s private life, routines and interests that old fashioned door-stepping just can’t dig up.
In recently released Facebook Search Warrant Guidelines, hosted on the Cryptome leak website, the sheer scale of the information and ease of its availability is evident.
Not only can the authorities request the obvious contact information and ip addresses, Facebook can also provide details on other pages viewed by a person’s account and a complete “photoprint” of the user – basically every single image the user has ever been tagged in. Though they cannot provide deleted images.
The guidelines also suggest IP logs are only kept for 60 days in most circumstances.
User Neoprint
The Neoprint is an expanded view of a given user profile. A request should
specify that they are requesting a “Neoprint of used Id XXXXXX”.
User Photoprint
The Photoprint is a compilation of all photos uploaded by the user that have not
been deleted, along with all photos uploaded by any user which have the
requested user tagged in them. A request should specify that they are requesting
a “Photoprint of user Id XXXXXX”.
Group Contact Info
Where a group is known, we will provide a list of users currently registered in a
group. We will also provide a PDF of the current status of the group profile page.
A request should specify that they are requesting “Contact information for group
XXXXXX”.
No historical data is retained.
Of course, this information is only available when Facebook are legally required to release it by either subpoena or search warrant. It really just highlights the extent to which someone’s life is almost completely documented online.
But, this collection of data must cut both ways. I wonder when we’ll see the first use of a Facebook alibis. “But judge I couldn’t have possibly stuffed Ryan Air boss Michael O’Leary into that tumble dryer, because I was playing Farmville at the time –I was busy ploughing my beet field…”
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