Patriot Act Bypasses Facebook Privacy

Geoffreyerffoeg writes "An article from the National Association of Colleges and Employers contains yet another horror story about a prospective hire's Facebook being checked — with a different twist. The interviewee had enabled privacy on his profile, '[b]ut, during the interview, something he was not prepared for happened. The interviewer began asking specific questions about the content on his Facebook.com listing and the situation became very awkward and uncomfortable. The son had thought only those he allowed to access his profile would be able to do so. But, the interviewer explained that as a state agency, recruiters accessed his Facebook account under the auspices of the Patriot Act.' How can a 'state agency' use the Patriot Act to subpoena a Facebook profile?"

Comments

It's times like these

[BlackCobra43]

I'm glad a good number of the so-called sunset provisions were recently extended indefinitly. I'm sure a lot of terrorists are plotting the next 9-11 over Facebook.com.

Yes, that was sarcasm.

Errr...

[Otter]

How can a 'state agency' use the Patriot Act to subpoena a Facebook profile?

Perhaps a more useful way of investigating this question would be to ask whether there's a single verifiable fact that could be found regarding this story of an unnamed student, an unnamed interviewer and an unnamed agency?

Re:This is what's wrong with slashdot

[LMacG]

I was wondering when somebody would point that out.

Somebody's mother told somebody a story ("but it's TRUE" whines TFA) about something somebody might have said somewhere.

Third-hand (at best) information, with no actual, you know, FACTS or anything.

Re:Oh, I'm sure it's okay

[Rude Turnip]

"Police: "Open up. We want to make sure you're not doing anything illegal."
Guy: "You can't come in without a search warrant."
Police: "Why not? If you're innocent, you have nothing to hide!""

No one ever includes the last line of this dialogue. Do I have to do everything?

Guy: That's right, I have nothing to hide, so quit wasting my time, your time, my tax dollars and fuck off unless you have a warrant.

Quote of an article of an article

[qazwart]

I looked at the link. It is on Louisiana State University - Shreveport. The article says it came from "NACE Spotlight Online", but NASE Spotlight Online had no reference to the article, and the reference on LSUS's site had no reference to a webpage or date of publication.

I've found three other copies of this story, all with the same generic NACE Spotlight Online reference.

The article is of an unnamed individual interviewing at an unnamed company located in an unnamed town. It references a well known career site, but with no context about where this article was located or when it was published.

Hear that sound? That's the sound of an URBAN LEGEND!

Re:Oh, I'm sure it's okay

[Archangel Michael]

Been there, done that. Have the arrest record to prove it, though I was found "not guilty" in a court of law. My lawyer said, because I was white, I couldn't sue. Had I been a minority, I could have sued for false arrest.

Yes, it was that bad. During the arrest, I asked "what am I being arrested for", they said ... "Drunk in Public". Mind you, I was in a PRIVATE residence, and not intoxicated.

So, I said to the arresting officer .. "I'm neither drunk, nor in public". And after that, I said NOTHING.

The final charges were assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest. Now mind you, I am 6'5" and very much had an athletic build of 225 lbs, brown belt in Judo, so if I had "resisted" arrest, I would have seriously injured me, or them or both. In addition, it seems that resisting a false arrest is completely legal, and as the police officers described it, they were arresting me when the so-called assault occured, not before.

Then, realizing their mistake, they said I threw a (can/bottle/cup) of beer on them. Notice that there are THREE answers given, which doesn't look good. Cup of beer is not assault, can and bottle might be, but the cops said there was a Keg at the party. The lying bastards couldn't get their story straight. I had cup, can and bottle at a kegger ... yeah right a three fisted drinker!

The jury elected a foreman, and on the first vote found me "not guilty". And people wonder why I hate cops.

The funniest thing, was during the selection of the jury, one of the prospective jurors was asked why they couldn't sit on the jury. She said she had dealings with one of the arresting officers and said "He's an asshole". Truly hillarious. All the other jurors heard it too. Priceless.