FBI Used Photos of Female Staff Members Without Written Consent in Predator Stings
A special agent with the FBI allegedly used photos belonging to "young" female support staff without their written consent in a sex trafficking investigation, according to a report by the Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General (OIG).
This seemingly violates FBI policy dictating "[s]upport personnel will not be used in undercover roles unless it is absolutely necessary." However, the OIG's report found the agency did not have a specific policy requiring agents to obtain written informed consent from these staffers, receive approval from their supervisors, or obtain approval from their own supervisors.
In this case, the report alleges that the agent did not inform the female support staff members' supervisors and told the women who provided photographs "to not tell anyone."
During its investigation into the incident, the OIG found that the FBI agents "sometimes used photographs of young female support staff employees to pose as minor children or sex workers to entice sexual predators." However, no documentation around this use was recorded in this particular case, meaning the Bureau did not have information on how long the photos would appear on the web.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/fbi-used-photos-of-female-staff-members-without-written-consent-in-predator-stings-report/ar-AAMQZco?ocid=msedgntp