Facebook Scans Chats for Criminal Activity, notifies police of suspicious activity
61 replies, posted
[QUOTE]Social networking is a great way to keep in touch with friends and meet new people. But it's also important to be vigilant about what you say to people you meet online.
Facebook has technology in place to monitor user conversations for suspicious activity and notify police when necessary, Reuters reported yesterday. The scanning technology monitors chats for words or phrases that may signal that something is wrong, such as personal information being exchanged or explicit language being used.
"We've never wanted to set up an environment where we have employees looking at private communications, so it's really important that we use technology that has a very low false-positive rate," Facebook told Reuters.
Facebook security employees don't see any of the conversations until the scanning technology actually flags the exchange. The employees then review the chat to determine whether the police should be notified.
"I find the news to be both scary and more than a bit surprising," Chester Wisniewski, senior security advisor at Sophos, told Security Watch. Most communication providers tend to take the stance that since they don't monitor user activity, under the Safe Harbor provisions it isn't their fault if users do something illegal, Wisniewski said.
"If you begin analyzing content, you may be held liable for not stopping something dangerous that traverses your network," Wisniewski said.
Protect Yourself
While it's nice to know that Facebook is keeping a distant eye on chat logs for criminal behavior, users should exercise some Internet smarts when online. And while we are picking on Facebook a bit, these tips apply to other social networking sites, as well.
Friending Strangers – Study after study have shown Facebook users accept friend requests from people they don't know. It's easy to lie on a profile, and criminals do it all the time on social networking sites. Sexual predators have pretended to be teenagers to talk to younger users on social networking sites. In a recent analysis, researchers from Barracuda Networks found several fake Facebook profiles using the exact same photograph of an attractive woman as the main profile picture. Once a fake profile is added as a friend, that scammer has access to a tremendous amount of personal data. Screen them out beforehand.
Chatty Profiles – Many people still have not locked down their social networking profiles, letting people they don't know see their home address, phone numbers, and all other information. If it's that critical to have that much information about you on your profile, at least lock it so that only friends can see it (and then be careful about who you friend…)
Know About Privacy – Some information, such as login credentials and personal identifying information, should never be shared, even with best friends. Learn how to use the site's privacy controls. Google+ has done a good job of giving users control over who can see their profile data, and Facebook is steadily improving.
"The bottom line is no one should expect any sort of privacy on social networks and these types of programs just further prove that point," Wisniewski said.
Crimes Against Minors Online Rare
Facebook relying on software to pre-scan chats protects the company from privacy concerns that someone is monitoring all conversations. But it also means that a lot of other suspicious incidents may be missed.
"I feel for every one we arrest, ten others get through the system," Special Agent Supervisor Jeffrey Duncan of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement told Reuters.
However, before anyone panics, it's worth noting that that Internet-related sex crimes against children are rare. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children processed 3,638 report of online "enticement" of children by adults last year, 10 percent less than 2010.
Most sex crimes against children are committed by people the children know, rather than strangers. Reuters reported Facebook's technology is more likely to likely scrutinize conversations between two users who aren't already "well-established" in the Facebook universe as friends. In which case, those chats with non-strangers may never even be flagged.
Protect Children
Despite the fact that strangers approaching children online is rare, many parents are still jittery. A recent survey of 1,000 parents by MinorMonitor found that 74 percent of parents were concerned about their child's safety on Facebook, with 56 percent worrying about predators.
There are a number of tools available that parents can use to monitor their children's social networking activities. PCMag gave an Editors' Choice award to Socialshield, which lets parents monitor their children's Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Google+, and Formspring accounts. ZoneAlarm's SocialGuard detects cyberbullying, account hacking, bad links, age-inappropriate relationships, and contact by strangers. MinorMonitor also tracks the child's Facebook activity and sends parents alerts for potential problems.[/QUOTE]
[url]http://securitywatch.pcmag.com/none/300288-facebook-scans-chats-for-criminal-activity[/url]
I wonder how this works, exactly. It could be cool to trigger it on purpose without actually being a criminal or anything, and then sue them for invasion of privacy or some shit :v:
Well, I'm fucked.
[QUOTE=Warship;36772124]I wonder how this works, exactly. It could be cool to trigger it on purpose without actually being a criminal or anything, and then sue them for invasion of privacy or some shit :v:[/QUOTE]
Everyone quick! Talk about drugs on facebook! :v:
That picture with Asange and Zuckerburg comes to mind
Wikileaks: Gives information to the public about the wrong doings of their government for free, Gets locked up, Facebook: Sells your personal information to the highest bidder, Person Of The Year in Time Magazine
hmmm i shouldn't have talked to my friend about how high he said I was at a party the other day...and subsequently told everyone
so umm, it's still okay to stalk people on facebook, right?
That's not illegal, right?
[QUOTE=Sardonus;36772383]so umm, it's still okay to stalk people on facebook, right?
That's not illegal, right?[/QUOTE]
I'd check your local laws, son. :v:
Shit, someone's knocking on my door.
[QUOTE=Warship;36772124]I wonder how this works, exactly. [B]It could be cool to trigger it on purpose [/B]without actually being a criminal or anything, and then sue them for invasion of privacy or some shit :v:[/QUOTE]
melon
Someone posted a picture of themselves posted a picture of a shotgun towards their mouth, and saying they'd pull it if someone didn't buy them the Valve Complete Pack, as a joke.
Next minute they emailed him about contacting the suicide prevention line.
He couldn't stop laughing (this was a group that did this)
Hardly surprising, given Zuckerberg's stance on privacy.
see this is why people need to learn new languages. I don't really think they would bother checking with the other languages.
[QUOTE=YWNJack;36772799]Someone posted a picture of themselves posted a picture of a shotgun towards their mouth, and saying they'd pull it if someone didn't buy them the Valve Complete Pack, as a joke.
Next minute they emailed him about contacting the suicide prevention line.
He couldn't stop laughing (this was a group that did this)[/QUOTE]
Any one who wouldn't know the context of that would be honestly really creeped out, as would I, so I don't really blame them. Still hilarious though.
Damnit now I have to text my drug dealer
I think ill go message my friend "drugs alchohol orgy" a bunch of times
[QUOTE=GameDev;36774327]I think ill go message my friend "drugs alchohol orgy" a bunch of times[/QUOTE]
Message them all with the lyrics from this, uh, "song"
[video=youtube;loH_LhDYASE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loH_LhDYASE[/video]
if you're doing illegal shit then why would you be using facebook as a medium in the first place?
[QUOTE=Kartoffel;36772172]Everyone quick! Talk about drugs on facebook! :v:[/QUOTE]
I found this gem on my facebook status list a while ago.
[IMG]http://i46.tinypic.com/v2tvs9.jpg[/IMG]
Terrible censoring, I know, but I'm suprised it didn't turn any heads.
[QUOTE=Warship;36772124]I wonder how this works, exactly. It could be cool to trigger it on purpose without actually being a criminal or anything, and then sue them for invasion of privacy or some shit :v:[/QUOTE]
I can't even name how many times I've joked about breaking the law online, I'm sure there's tons like me.
By the way guys know how to dispose of dead hookers? Fucking pigs are on my trail.
[QUOTE=Kartoffel;36772172]Everyone quick! Talk about drugs on facebook! :v:[/QUOTE]
What they need is drug slang in the form of legal drugs names, like Advil and whatnot. Stuff you can buy right off the shelves in a supermarket.
...they keep giving me reason after reason not to use their service and to recommend others also don't use it. wow.
Just say "Quick, plant the bomb!" then when the police burst down the door, say you were playing counter strike.
[QUOTE=samuel2213;36775149]Just say "Quick, plant the bomb!" then when the police burst down the door, say you were playing counter strike.[/QUOTE]
I remember a news article about that happening while someone was on a plane, but the game was Halo instead.
See this is the shit why social networking sites will never work once they reach their peak numbers. Governments want in
[del]Well atleast the gummint isn't also recording all of our calls[/del]
[QUOTE=TheTalon;36772238]That picture with Asange and Zuckerburg comes to mind
Wikileaks: Gives information to the public about the wrong doings of their government for free, Gets locked up, Facebook: Sells your personal information to the highest bidder, Person Of The Year in Time Magazine[/QUOTE]
Wasn't he arrested for sexual harassment?
I just talked to my buddy in detail deliberately about a shipment of crack I'm expecting. Have fun, Facebook
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