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Using Facebook for organising?

Riseup Collective | 10.01.2010 01:21 | Analysis | Technology | World

This information was introduced in a "newsletter for users" but it provides food for thought for all.

Two birds recently did a presentation at the People's Summit[1] celebrating the 10 year anniversary of the WTO protests. We discussed the dangers of using corporate tools to do organizing work, in
particular, the fact that you don't know what they do with your data.

Thanks to some anonymous comments in a blogger's post[2] about his research regarding a U.S. mobile phone company's release to law enforcement of its customers' geographic location information, we now have some answers.

Large companies have entire departments devoted to dealing with law enforcement subpoenas and warrants, and the anonymous posters provided copies of the guidebooks that several large corporations provide to assist law enforcement with their requests. The leaked manuals include those for facebook,[3] yahoo,[4], myspace,[5] comcast,[6] and paypal.[7]

Each manual provides helpful hints for law enforcement regarding the specific data available (some of which may be obtained with a mere subpoena and without any judicial scrutiny), and even sample request language to use in different circumstances.

For example, according to the leaked manual, facebook retains information about the IP address of
every computer that accesses their website for 30 days. This means that, unless you use countermeasures, facebook can know the exact location where you logged on to your account.

Because this IP address information does not include the contents of communications, a U.S. prosecutor can seek the information without any judicial oversight.

With a court order, facebook will release even more information about you. They've even developed an application called "Neoprint" to deliver a handy packet of information about subscribers, including profile contact information, mini-feed, friend listing (with friend's facebook ID), group listing and messages.

There is little oversight of surveillance conducted in the U.S. of online service providers because the U.S. Department of Justice does not report the number of IP address requests that they have issued, even though a 1999 law requires reports.[1] There is also no reporting requirement for court orders issued under the Stored Communications Act[8] which governs the release in the United States of all of your electronic data stored online.

One of the scary things about all of this is that the US actually has better data protection laws than many other countries. Also, unlike our comrades in the EU,[9] the US does not currently require online
providers to keep logs, This means that people organizing everywhere should be aware that if you are using corporate providers, your data is at risk.

While this information should not be surprising, it illustrates the importance of supporting alternatives and educating each other about the risks of using corporate tools for organizing work. For more information, read the blog post,[2]

[1]  http://seattleplus10.org/
[2]  http://paranoia.dubfire.net/2009/12/8-million-reasons-for-real-surveillance.html
[3]  http://dtto.net/docs/facebook-manual.pdf
[4]  http://dtto.net/docs/yahoo-guide.pdf
[5]  http://dtto.net/docs/myspace-guide.pdf
[6]  http://dtto.net/docs/comcast-guide.pdf
[7]  http://dtto.net/docs/paypal-guide.pdf
[8]  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stored_Communications_Act
[9]  http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32006L0024:EN:NOT

Riseup Collective
- Homepage: http://riseup.net

Additions

Facebook snowball 'terrorist' threatened by cops

10.01.2010 13:24

A Leeds man who posted a Facebook event "The World's Biggest Snowball Fight", to take place in Leeds on Sunday 10th January received a visit at his home from coppers who threatened him with charges if "anyone or anything is damaged in Hyde Park on Sunday".

 http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?v=app_2344061033&ref=profile&id=766690091#/event.php?eid=237588241804&index=1

He comments:
"I REFUSE TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY,
I HAVE NO CONTROL OVER PEOPLES ACTIONS.
IM ORGANISING A SNOWBALL FIGHT. NOT A RIOT.

THE POLICE WILL BE SURROUNDING THE PARK "DEALING WITH PEOPLE WHO SHOW UP AND THROW SNOWBALLS, APPROPRIATELY"

HOWEVER,
I DON'T THINK ANYONE CARES..."

Speaking as a a snowballer, i don't care that the police are trying to stop the fight - in the words of GWB, 'bring it on'.

As an activist, this shows that by posting anything on Facebook, you might as well invite the coppers round your house and show them your plans. If they can be arsed to track you down over a snowball fight, then...

Which isn't to say that it's of no use whatsoever as an organising tool, but must be handled with care.

scrumpy


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