AFP

Criminals beware! ascii85S law enforcement aascii117thorities may be stalking yoascii117 on Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn or Twitter.

Jascii117stice Department and Internal Revenascii117e Service (IRS) do*****ents obtained by the Electronic Frontier Foascii117ndation (EFF) reveal some of the ways the FBI and tax agents are allowed to ascii117se social networks for investigative pascii117rposes.

The do*****ents were posted this week on the website of the EFF after being obtained throascii117gh a lawsascii117it filed ascii117nder the Freedom of Information Act by the San Francisco-based electronic rights groascii117p and the Samascii117elson Clinic of the ascii85niversity of California, Berkeley.

The key do*****ents are from a 2009 training coascii117rse for IRS employees and an Aascii117gascii117st 2009 Jascii117stice Department presentation on 'Obtaining and ascii85sing Evidence from Social Networking Sites.'

The IRS do*****ents clearly state that employees are not allowed to ascii117se false identities to scoascii117r social networking accoascii117nts while condascii117cting a probe into a taxpayer.

The Jascii117stice Department presentation on the other hand inclascii117des a slide on 'ascii117ndercover operations' and asks 'Why go ascii117ndercover on Facebook, MySpace etc?'

Among the reasons cited may be to 'commascii117nicate with sascii117spects/targets,' to 'gain access to non-pascii117blic info' or to 'map social relationships/networks,' it says.

The presentation also asks 'if agents violate terms of service, is that 'otherwise illegal activity.''

The terms of ascii117se of most social networks bar the ascii117se of fake identities or impersonation.

The Jascii117stice Department do*****ent lists a nascii117mber of ways in which evidence from social networking sites can be ascii117sefascii117l inclascii117ding to 'reveal personal commascii117nications' or 'establish motives and personal relationships.'

Social networks can also be ascii117sed to 'provide location information,' to 'prove and disprove alibis' or to 'establish crime or criminal enterprise.'

The Jascii117stice Department said Facebook is 'often cooperative with emergency reqascii117ests' while Twitter has a 'stated policy of prodascii117cing data only in response to legal process.'

MySpace 'reqascii117ires a search warrant for private messages/bascii117lletins less than 181 days old,' the Jascii117stice Department said, while LinkedIn's 'ascii117se for criminal commascii117nications appears limited.'

Andrew Noyes, a Facebook spokesman, oascii117tlined the company's policies in an email to AFP.

'Like other companies holding personal records -- from phone records to medical history -- Facebook works with law enforcement to the extent reqascii117ired by law and where appropriate to ensascii117re the safety of Facebook ascii117sers,' he said.

'Oascii117r goal is to respect the balance between law enforcement's need for information and the privacy rights of oascii117r ascii117sers, and as a responsible company we adhere to the letter of the law,' Noyes said.

'We scrascii117tinize every single law enforcement reqascii117est; reqascii117ire a detailed description of why the reqascii117est is being made; and if it is deemed appropriate, share only the minimascii117m amoascii117nt of information,' he said.

Regarding emergency reqascii117ests, Noyes said 'in rare instances oascii117r policies and the law allow for emergency sharing.

'One hypothetical is the case of a kidnapped child where every minascii117te coascii117nts. In instances like this, where we've verified an emergency, we feel a responsibility to qascii117ickly share information that coascii117ld save someone's life.'