The FBI plans to step up its efforts to gather information from social media – issuing a call last week for a new tool to monitor Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other platforms “in a timely fashion.”
Citing the use of social media by terrorist groups, domestic threats, criminal organizations and foreign intelligence services, the FBI “needs near real time access to a full range of social media exchanges in order to obtain the most current information available,” according to the request for proposal.
In addition to information such as user IDs, the feds are interested in “emails, IP addresses, telephone numbers, and likely aliases” used over social media. The tool would also allow for location-based tracking, persistent keyword monitoring, and access to one’s personal social media history. – READ MORE