DEA steals private data of woman, impersonates her on Facebook to befriend criminal

[DetlefK]

http://www.buzzfeed.com/chrishamby/government-says-federal-agents-can-impersonate-woman-online#2w8tetb
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1309429-arquiett-civil-complaint.html

Quotes from article:

"Not long before, law enforcement officers had arrested Arquiett, alleging she was part of a drug ring. A judge, weighing evidence that the single mom was a bit player who accepted responsibility, ultimately sentenced Arquiett to probation. But while she was awaiting trial, Sinnigen created the fake Facebook page using Arquiett’s real name, posted photos from her seized cell phone, and communicated with at least one wanted fugitive — all without her knowledge."

...

"The DEA’s actions might never have come to light if Arquiett, now 28, hadn’t sued Sinnigen, accusing him in federal district court in Syracuse, New York, of violating her privacy and placing her in danger.

In a court filing, a U.S. attorney acknowledges that, unbeknownst to Arquiett, Sinnigen created the fake Facebook account, posed as her, posted photos, sent a friend request to a fugitive, accepted other friend requests, and used the account “for a legitimate law enforcement purpose.”

The government’s response lays out an argument justifying Sinnigen’s actions: “Defendants admit that Plaintiff did not give express permission for the use of photographs contained on her phone on an undercover Facebook page, but state the Plaintiff implicitly consented by granting access to the information stored in her cell phone and by consenting to the use of that information to aid in an ongoing criminal investigations [sic].”"

[msanthrope]

1. Oh good...the third thread posted on this in GD!!! nt

[rhett o rick]

2. A note to those who rationalize that it's ok for the govement (and therefore corporations) to spy

on us, because if you don't do anything wrong you won't have anything to worry about. The govment will use whatever means necessary to achieve their goals. And corporations will use whatever means necessary to achieve their goals. Neither can be trusted with your personal information. Neither have morals.

[msanthrope]

3. Well...I get your concerns but this is a poor case to make that argument.

This was not spying...this was action undertaken by a government agent under the authority of a federal plea deal.

This case raises several Constitutional concerns, none of which have anything to do with "spying" per se.