Social Media a Threat To Undercover Cops 252
Posted
by
timothy
from the which-might-in-some-cases-be-a-good-outcome dept.
from the which-might-in-some-cases-be-a-good-outcome dept.
angry tapir writes "Facebook has proven to be one of the biggest dangers in keeping undercover police officers safe, due to applications such as facial recognition and photo tagging, according to an adjunct professor at ANU and Charles Sturt University. Mick Keelty, a former Australian Federal Police commissioner, told the audience at Security 2011 in Sydney that because of the convergence of a number of technologies undercover policing may be 'impossible' in the future."
Here's a better idea. (Score:5, Insightful)
Don't have secret police in the first place. "Undercover" cops have no place in a free society. Only police states have or need secret police. If social media makes the secret police impossible, GOOD!
As to the cop's safety, being a cop is nowhere near the top ten list of dangerous jobs. A taxi driver or construction worker is in far more danger than a cop.
It cuts both ways... (Score:5, Insightful)
Best news I've heard all year... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Here's a novel idea... (Score:4, Insightful)
you're missing the point, they can't even associate themselfs with OTHER people using facebook or social media, because if they appear on some wedding photos etc for some family, you know that there's an association there. basically the same sort of stuff that would have gotten them busted before if the bad guys would have hired a private eye to do some digging.
Re:Take that copper (Score:2, Insightful)
I personally know at least a half-dozen cops (through various organizations I am involved in) and I can't see a single one of them doing anything like that.
It's amazing that "cops are evil" is about the only FUD that is not only accepted by slashdot, but actively PROMOTED. You people either need to stop getting your information about cops from Fox News or stop peddling meth through your mail slot!
Re:Here's an idea. (Score:5, Insightful)
Old hacker's law dictates that any backdoor the police may have to any system will be abused, not only by the police but also by people who are smarter than the average cop who has to use the backdoor.
In other words, if you offer this service to the police, it will soon be abused by people who craft identities for other, even worse, purposes.
Re:Here's an idea. (Score:4, Insightful)
If "social interaction" means "Facebook", then maybe not.
OTOH people managed to interact socially before Facebook. Weird but true.
Re:Here's a better idea. (Score:5, Insightful)
Anyone sensible would realize that we can't trust the police to act sensibly. Police regularly shoot civilians in cold blood, and get paid vacation for it. Look how well police oversight works in practice and rethink your post.
Re:Here's an idea. (Score:5, Insightful)
The law against facial recognition is a nice idea that will never happen for one simple reason, it's potentially more useful to the authorities than the problems it creates.
That just means that the law will make an exception for cops, just like every other law. Like those laws that let cops film whoever they please (if you aren't doing anything wrong...), but if you film a cop, they get to rough you up, drop your camera a few times then accidentally run it over with a squad car.