Social Media and “Law Enforcement Cooperation” Coursework (Coursework Sample)

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Social Media and “Law Enforcement Cooperation”
In the current technological world, the investigation of crime has gone far beyond the traditional methods of crime investigation. Social media is now used by the law enforcement to help investigate cases, some of which have been successful and has led to the affirmation of justice. For instance, the use of social media in crime investigation has led to arrests of members of criminal gangs in some areas of the United States. Therefore, social media plays an important role in the modern criminal investigation. However, there are some requirements from both parties to ensure the success of investigation. Therefore, this paper discusses the social media’s policy for law enforcement requests of five popular social sites.
Name of site: FACEBOOK
URL:  HYPERLINK "https://web.facebook.com/" https://web.facebook.com/
Facebook is one of the largest social networking companies with over 1.44 billion active monthly users. Under their section ‘Facebook and Law Enforcement,’ the company states that it works with the law enforcement community to help promote safety, both on and offline. By this, in case it receives an official request for an account records, the company first strives to establish the legitimacy of such request. By doing so, it helps protect the privacy of its subscribers. The law enforcement authorities are required to produce a valid subpoena that links the account to be investigated with a criminal activity. Such may include the name, credit card information and email addresses among others. A court order and search warrant are also required.
On the other hand, the information handed over by Facebook in response to an official subpoena may include photographs, together with its details, people tagged in the photographs, wall posts, messages, post activities as well as contacts available in that account. Below is a copy of Facebook’s policy for law enforcement:
Information for Law Enforcement Authorities
These operational guidelines are for law enforcement officials seeking records from Facebook. For private party requests, including requests from civil litigants and criminal defendants, visit:  HYPERLINK "https://web.facebook.com/help/?page=1057" facebook.com/help/?page=1057. Users seeking information on their own accounts can access Facebook’s “Download Your Information” feature from their account settings. See  HYPERLINK "https://web.facebook.com/help/?page=18830" facebook.com/help/?page=18830. This information may change at any time.
These guidelines can also be  HYPERLINK "https://z-1-scontent-sin1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/l/t39.2178-6/851585_544247282309435_854704444_n.pdf" downloaded in their original English as a PDF.
US Legal Process Requirements
We disclose account records solely in accordance with our terms of service and applicable law, including the federal Stored Communications Act (“SCA”), 18 U.S.C. Sections 2701-2712. Under US law:
A valid subpoena issued in connection with an official criminal investigation is required to compel the disclosure of basic subscriber records (defined in 18 U.S.C. Section 2703(c)(2)), which may include: name, length of service, credit card information, email address(es), and a recent login/logout IP address(es), if available.
A court order issued under 18 U.S.C. Section 2703(d) is required to compel the disclosure of certain records or other information pertaining to the account, not including contents of communications, which may include message headers and IP addresses, in addition to the basic subscriber records identified above.
A search warrant issued under the procedures described in the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure or equivalent state warrant procedures upon a showing of probable cause is required to compel the disclosure of the stored contents of any account, which may include messages, photos, videos, wall posts, and location information.
We interpret the national security letter provision as applied to Facebook to require the production of only 2 categories of information: name and length of service.
International Legal Process Requirements
We disclose account records solely in accordance with our terms of service and applicable law. A Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty request or letter rogatory may be required to compel the disclosure of the contents of an account. Further information can be found here:  HYPERLINK "/about/privacy/other" facebook.com/about/privacy/other.
Account Preservation
We will take steps to preserve account records in connection with official criminal investigations for 90 days pending our receipt of formal legal process. You may expeditiously submit formal preservation requests through the Law Enforcement Online Request System at  HYPERLINK "/records" facebook.com/records, or by email, or mail as indicated below.
Emergency Requests
In responding to a matter involving imminent harm to a child or risk of death or serious physical injury to any person and requiring disclosure of information without delay, a law enforcement official may submit a request through the Law Enforcement Online Request System at  HYPERLINK "/records" facebook.com/records. Important note: We will not review or respond to messages sent to this email address by non-law enforcement officials. Users aware of an emergency situation should immediately and directly contact local law enforcement officials.
Child Safety Matters
We report all apparent instances of child exploitation appearing on our site from anywhere in the world to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), including content drawn to our attention by government requests. NCMEC coordinates with the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children and law enforcement authorities from around the world. If a request relates to a child exploitation or safety matter, please specify those circumstances (and include relevant NCMEC report identifiers) in the request to ensure that we are able to address these matters expeditiously and effectively.
Data Retention and Availability
We will search for and disclose data that is specified with particularity in an appropriate form of legal process and which we are reasonably able to locate and retrieve. We do not retain data for law enforcement purposes unless we receive a valid preservation request before a user has deleted that content from our service.
Details about data and account deletion can be found in our Data Use Policy  HYPERLINK "/policy.php" (facebook.com/policy.php), Statement of Rights and Responsibilities  HYPERLINK "/terms.php" (facebook.com/terms.php), and Help Center  HYPERLINK "/help/?faq=224562897555674" (facebook.com/help/?faq=224562897555674).
Form of Requests
We will be unable to process overly broad or vague requests. All requests must identify requested records with particularity and include the following:
The name of the issuing authority, badge/ID number of responsible agent, email address from a law-enforcement domain, and direct contact phone number.
The email address, user ID number (/profile.php?id=1000000XXXXXXXX) or username (/username) of the Facebook profile.
User Consent
If a law enforcement official is seeking information about a Facebook user who has provided consent for the official to access or obtain the user’s account information, the user should be directed to obtain that information on their own from their account. For account content, such as messages, photos, videos and wall posts, users can access Facebook’s “Download Your Information” feature from their account settings. See  HYPERLINK "/help/?page=18830" facebook.com/help/?page=18830. Users can also view recent IP addresses in their Account Settings under Security Settings/Active Sessions. Users do not have access to historical IP information without legal process.
Notification
Our policy is to notify people who use our service of requests for their information prior to disclosure unless we are prohibited by law from doing so or in exceptional circumstances, such as child exploitation cases, emergencies or when notice would be counterproductive. We will provide delayed notice upon expiration of a specific non-disclosure period in a court order and where we have a good faith belief that exceptional circumstances no longer exist and we are not otherwise prohibited by law from doing so. Law enforcement officials who believe that notification would jeopardize an investigation should obtain an appropriate court order or other appropriate process establishing that notice is prohibited. If your data request draws attention to an ongoing violation of our terms of use, we will take action to prevent further abuse, including actions that may notify the user that we are aware of their misconduct.
Testimony
Facebook does not provide expert testimony support. In addition, Facebook records are self-authenticating pursuant to law and should not require the testimony of a records custodian. If a special form of certification is required, please attach it to your records request.
Cost Reimbursement
We may seek reimbursement for costs in responding to requests for information as provided by law. These fees apply on a per account basis. We may also charge additional fees for costs incurred in responding to unusual or burdensome requests.
We may waive these fees in matters investigating potential harm to children, Facebook and our users, and emergency requests.
Name of Site: INSTAGRAM
URL:  HYPERLINK "/" /
Instagram is one of the subsidiary social media sites owned by Facebook. It is a platform in which people communicate by sharing photos. Since it is owned by Facebook, its operational guidelines for law enforcement offi...