If you want to use our service, you have to use your real name; a message
from Facebook for the DEA. In a letter
sent to the drug enforcement administration on Friday, chief security office
Joe Sullivan chided the agency for allowing one of its officers to lure
criminals with a fake Facebook account created in a suspect's name. "We
regard the DEA's conduct to be a knowing and serious breach of Facebook's terms
and policies," writes Sullivan. He adds that the social network "asks
that the DEA immediately confirm that it has ceased all activities on Facebook
that involve the impersonation of others or that otherwise violate our terms
and policies."
The issue came to the fore earlier this month when Buzzfedd
reported on a case filed in a federal district court. The suspect, 28-year-old
Sondra Arquiett, sued DEA agent Timothy Sinnigen for violating her privacy and
putting her in harm's way. In court filings, the DEA admitted that Sinnigen
used photos obtained from Arquiett's cell phone to create a phony Facebook
account.
A serious breach of Facebook's terms and policies.
The agency defended those actions, saying she "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." Arqiette, who was arrested in 2010, later pled guilty to
charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, and was sentenced to probation.
She's asking for $250,000 in damages, according to the associated press. In
response to the allegations, a DEA spokesperson tells the AP that it has
"launched a review" into the matter, adding, "that review is
ongoing, but to our knowledge, this is not a widespread practice among our
federal law enforcement agencies."
In recent years, Facebook has fought successfully to ensure that
users on the service represent themselves with their "real names."
The company won a legal battle in the previous year to institute the
policy in Germany, though earlier this month it found itself in hot water after
cracking down on drag queens who used their stage names online. The company
later clarified its policy to note that "real names" are the names
people use in public, not necessarily their legal names. In any event, the
DEA's use of Facebook breach the terms of use, and, as Sullivan writes, that
company "has long made clear that law enforcement authorities are subject
to these policies. that is to say no one is above Facebook terms of use and policies; if you must use Facebook you must abide by the Terms and Conditions of this social network.
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