DoJ: Law Enforcement Can Impersonate People On Facebook

An anonymous reader sends news that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency impersonated a young woman on Facebook to communicate with suspected criminals, and the Department of Justice argued that they had the right to do so. The woman was charged with being part of a drug ring and sentenced to probation, after which a DEA agent set up a Facebook page in her name, uploaded images to it (including pictures of her son and niece), and used it without her consent. She recently sued the agent in federal district court, and the government argued that she "implicitly consented by granting access to the information stored in her cell phone and by consenting to the use of that information to aid in an ongoing criminal investigations [sic]." Facebook has now removed the account, and the DoJ is "reviewing" the case.

Comments

This is crime in many states

[laughingskeptic]

Louisiana: http://www.criminaldefenselawy... Unfortunately in New York http://www.criminaldefenselawy... the intent must be criminal.

Re: Copyright Infringment

[ColdWetDog]

You fucking dumbass.

The only difference between Obama and Bush is that the former is a better public speaker.

To the dismay of comedians everywhere.

Re:Insane

[ShaunC]

You think a fake Facebook account is bad, how about having a cop take over your ID and use it to become a stripper! In 2003, Ohio law enforcement agents "appropriated" a woman's drivers license and SSN, and assigned them to an undercover officer who went to work as a stripper for 3 months as part of a sting operation on strip clubs. And the victim in that case hadn't been arrested for (nor consented to) a damn thing.

Pointing to a 2002 change in Ohio's law aimed at fighting identity theft, [the prosecutor] said police are allowed to assume anyone's identity as long as it's part of an investigation.

Fucking outrageous. Law enforcement in the US is out of control and has been so for quite some time.