Fed agents "befriend" people on social networks

Seems to be a lot more of this sort of spying/snooping being reported lately Not that 99% of people using them will get to know about such things, or leave even if they do IMO

http://www.infowars.com/federal-agents-urged-to-friend-people-on-social-networks-memo-reveals

 

I saw this report a few days ago, it makes perfect sense. Let's face it, a person is smart, people are stupid. A person understands the extreme amount of risk taken by posting personal information, beliefs both religious and political, even favorite activities. People couldn't care less what they post, they only care that they are the "in crowd" by using these services. Facebook can be Google without a court order. It's all there for the taking, what people think of their government, their past, their present. The truth is, not that many even make their profiles private or use the privacy controls, even though it is available to them.

Governments of the world, from the very top of the chain down to the "ground troops", would be incredibly stupid NOT to make use of it and NOT to infiltrate it from the inside.

 

Used also to control public opinion:

Source


Technical forums, such as these, could easily be used to promote or criticize something in the interests of a particular state (e.g., Linux, Windows, etc.).

 

God help us if the government starts doing that, we have enough of that here already Not that the governments aren't probably already here poking around and looking at what people say about them and the kinds of security setups they have.

 

I'm 99% certain that there are federal agents on Wilders. Why would that be odd? They use computers, and are interested in security.

 

Yeah, the CIA/NSA wouldn't find anything special here, but the FBI and lower would for sure, especially in regards to encryption, vulnerabilities to use and such.

 

Our IA department monitors our staff's use of social network sites to make sure nothing inappropriate is being posted. They monitor use, and we are not even permitted to use it while at work. Monitoring use is a nice way of saying they are spying on us.

 

Are you stating that your employer spys on you even when you are not at work, and on your own time and not working?

 

LOTS of employers meander around Facebook to search for their employees and check activities and/or possible criticisms about the companies. There's a local company here that, when an employee is absent from work, will check for their Facebook profile and see if the employee gives their self away by posting comments on the previous day, the day of the absence and the following day. It's been confirmed by multiple previous and current workers.

 

I'm focused on the word 'inappropriate', meaning possibly things like political expression.

 

Yes, that is what i'm stating. Our policy states that we are not allowed to post anything about our work so that is what they are monitoring for.

 

The NYT article about China was fascinating. Recently, the U.S. government has begun to speak about what constitutes permitted cyber "information" operations:

"How does the emerging rubric of cyber now fit against the broad operational backdrop of information operations as a whole? This is an elemental question that demands top-down clarification if USCYBERCOM expects to contain its mission space and lead decisively. The question must be answered: Is it about securing the network itself, or achieving military effects through the targeted application of information in all its forms?"

Wesley R. Andrues

emphasis added.

It is also unclear as to what kind of information operations can be conducted here in the U.S. For instance, what kind of information operation is SEO? Imagine the problems that can occur. On the one hand, a government entity has a legitimate interest in being competitive in an information market, especially if the government entity is charged with a public service mission like, for instance, promoting vaccinations, etc. But what about using SEO to suppress dissent? The possibilities are legion. And it is very difficult to assign accountability, due to the very technology we all espouse here.