‘Friends’ can share your Facebook profile with the government, court rules

A federal judge has ruled that investigators can go through your Facebook profile if one of your friends gives them permission to do so. The decision, which is part of a New York City racketeering trial, comes as courts struggle to define privacy and civil liberties in the age of social media.

In an order issued on Friday, US District Judge William Pauley III ruled that accused gangster Melvin Colon can’t rely on the Fourth Amendment to suppress Facebook evidence that led to his indictment. Colon had argued that federal investigators violated his privacy by tapping into his profile through an informant who was one of this Facebook friends.

The informant’s Facebook friendship served to open an online window onto Colon’s alleged gangster life, revealing messages he posted about violent acts and threats to rival gang members. The government used this information to obtain a search warrant for the rest of Colon’s Facebook account. The Colon information is part of a larger investigation into crack-dealing and murder in the Bronx.

» via GigaOM

Notes

  1. vk-kanaye reblogged this from world-shaker
  2. xkawai reblogged this from world-shaker and added:
    wat.
  3. dragonsheep reblogged this from world-shaker and added:
    Ugh. It makes sense, because if you passed a printed photo to a friend or wrote them a letter, the informant could...
  4. growlingshark reblogged this from world-shaker
  5. achaoticmasterpiece reblogged this from infoneer-pulse
  6. damnhistrionics reblogged this from lipsredasroses
  7. marskittlesglitter reblogged this from world-shaker
  8. faithliketeeth reblogged this from world-shaker
  9. dragonkin reblogged this from cryptfly and added:
    Sophie is here to ask the important questions. That is like three of my coworkers who got upset after being fired for...
  10. radicalmilitantlibrarian reblogged this from infoneer-pulse and added:
    That … actually seems quite reasonable. Anything you’ve voluntarily exposed to someone else can be legally shared by...
  11. its-a-nguyen-nguyen-situation reblogged this from world-shaker
  12. basedceerex reblogged this from lillabet
  13. fabulousfictionista reblogged this from world-shaker
  14. cryptfly reblogged this from aim2misbehave and added:
    query why did this guy post about violent acts and threats to rival gang members on facebook?
  15. mentalitiesamazeme reblogged this from world-shaker and added:
    In an order issued on Friday, US District Judge William Pauley III ruled that accused gangster Melvin Colon can’t rely...
  16. anglophilelizz reblogged this from warlikeparakeet88
  17. misseducation reblogged this from hisnamewasbeanni and added:
    This is really scary…
  18. charlamares reblogged this from world-shaker
  19. shimozu reblogged this from licketydolicketyda
  20. upsettingshorts reblogged this from world-shaker
  21. licketydolicketyda reblogged this from world-shaker
  22. countingpetals reblogged this from hisnamewasbeanni
  23. hisnamewasbeanni reblogged this from world-shaker and added:
    Especially if you’re involved in organised crime!
  24. brenildo reblogged this from world-shaker
  25. kaylaoakes reblogged this from world-shaker