DZone
Thanks for visiting DZone today,
Edit Profile
  • Manage Email Subscriptions
  • How to Post to DZone
  • Article Submission Guidelines
Sign Out View Profile
  • Post an Article
  • Manage My Drafts
Over 2 million developers have joined DZone.
Log In / Join
Refcards Trend Reports Events Over 2 million developers have joined DZone. Join Today! Thanks for visiting DZone today,
Edit Profile Manage Email Subscriptions Moderation Admin Console How to Post to DZone Article Submission Guidelines
View Profile
Sign Out
Refcards
Trend Reports
Events
Zones
Culture and Methodologies Agile Career Development Methodologies Team Management
Data Engineering AI/ML Big Data Data Databases IoT
Software Design and Architecture Cloud Architecture Containers Integration Microservices Performance Security
Coding Frameworks Java JavaScript Languages Tools
Testing, Deployment, and Maintenance Deployment DevOps and CI/CD Maintenance Monitoring and Observability Testing, Tools, and Frameworks
Culture and Methodologies
Agile Career Development Methodologies Team Management
Data Engineering
AI/ML Big Data Data Databases IoT
Software Design and Architecture
Cloud Architecture Containers Integration Microservices Performance Security
Coding
Frameworks Java JavaScript Languages Tools
Testing, Deployment, and Maintenance
Deployment DevOps and CI/CD Maintenance Monitoring and Observability Testing, Tools, and Frameworks

Facebook and benefit fraud

Adi Gaskell user avatar by
Adi Gaskell
·
Aug. 09, 14 · Interview
Like (0)
Save
Tweet
Share
2.63K Views

Join the DZone community and get the full member experience.

Join For Free

With so much of the Facebook business model relying on the data they collect from members, it’s inevitable that there will be a regular slew of stories about privacy and the like.  The recent news of news feeds being manipulated as part of a psychological experiment emphasized the concerns many have.

Alas, when it comes to external organizations trawling the site for information, most instances occur in a recruitment style context, with present or future employers looking at the content shared by employees with a view to influencing HR type decisions.  That most of the information they harvest is in the public domain has not been enough to stop various legal claims suggesting that the practice is wrong and discriminatory.

A slightly more serious case emerged recently that should be a major cause for concern amongst anyone who cares about their privacy online.  It was revealed that the district attorney of Manhattan had obtained nearly 400 search warrants that would enable them to trawl through the Facebook profiles of those people, public or private, in the hunt for information pertaining to their level of disability.

The clear belief was that the suspects were believed to not be disabled at all, and a browse of their Facebook photos and updates would reveal as much.  What’s more, the ruling barred Facebook from talking publicly about the warrant.

The search ultimately led to just over 100 New York police and fireman arrested for what was believed to be welfare fraud in relation to the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center.  Judges in the case resisted calls by Facebook to block the search warrant, suggesting that only users themselves could do so, but of course, if the users aren’t aware that their accounts are being spied on, it’s kinda hard for them to object.

Facebook also complained that the warrants were excessively broad, allowing police to access every single aspect of each suspects profile, regardless of whether that was relevant to the case or not.  They suggested that this was akin to allowing police to seize everything in someone’s home as part of the search process.

Suffice to say, this seems to be only the beginning of this affair.  If the courts decide that such searches are indeed valid, then it could easily trigger a flurry of similar cases whereby law enforcement agencies, tax collection agencies and the like begin trawling through Facebook profiles in search of evidence of malpractice.  It will in effect render the privacy settings on your account irrelevant if people high enough want to look at it.

Original post 

facebook

Opinions expressed by DZone contributors are their own.

Popular on DZone

  • Multi-Cloud Database Deep Dive
  • How To Avoid “Schema Drift”
  • The New DevOps Performance Clusters
  • Comparing Flutter vs. React Native

Comments

Partner Resources

X

ABOUT US

  • About DZone
  • Send feedback
  • Careers
  • Sitemap

ADVERTISE

  • Advertise with DZone

CONTRIBUTE ON DZONE

  • Article Submission Guidelines
  • Become a Contributor
  • Visit the Writers' Zone

LEGAL

  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy

CONTACT US

  • 600 Park Offices Drive
  • Suite 300
  • Durham, NC 27709
  • support@dzone.com
  • +1 (919) 678-0300

Let's be friends: