Did you know that Facebook can play a huge role in a criminal case? In fact, it can actually start the case, as it has data-mining technologies that seek out posts that may be linked to criminal activity. Everything is not automatically sent to the police, but Facebook staff members are alerted when such activity is flagged, and then they decide if they need to talk to the police or not.
The software looks for a lot of things, such as:
- People who do not have many—or any—common friends.
- People who are communicating through messages but aren't friends.
- People who just recently became Facebook friends.
- People who don't interact much.
- People who live far away from each other.
- People who are not close in age.
For example, such a flag was created when a man in his 30s started to talk to a girl who was just 13. The two communicated and made plans to meet when she got done going to middle school for the day. They planned it for the following day, so Facebook's employees called the authorities instantly. They went to the girl's house, used her computer, and got in place to arrest the man.
This is just one example of how things can play out, but it makes it clear that the data-mining abilities Facebook has are powerful and keep track of everything. While millions and millions of messages and posts are exchanged, it can filter out those that the authorities want to look into, and they can take legal action based on these posts.
Those who are arrested as a result of Facebook activity have the right to a fair trial in Ottawa.
Source: CNET, "Facebook scans chats and posts for criminal activity," Emil Protalinski, accessed Jan. 07, 2016
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