Be Careful: Social Media Can Cause Trouble

As technology advances, more social media platforms are created. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat are just a few of the platforms that most people are using. You use them to post pictures and statuses about your life while also being able to comment on the posts of others. Be careful what you post, especially if it contains illegal activity. Law enforcement agencies are using social media to track down and identify criminals.

There is no expectation of privacy for the information you post on your social media accounts. When you post on social media, anyone can view your post and use the information however they want. The expectation of privacy ends when you share the post. This applies even when you have all of your account information set to private. Your friends can use the information you post however they want. This includes sharing the information with a law enforcement agency.

Be mindful of who you befriend. While your friends could be sharing your information with the police, your friends could actually be the police. Law enforcement agencies are creating fake pages to befriend suspects and view their private information. They are using this tactic to gather evidence, identify suspects, identify the locations of suspects, and even identify crimes.

Befriending you on social media is not law enforcement’s only tactic to obtain information from your social media page. The government can issue subpoenas and warrants to obtain information from the social media platform. Some social media platforms are taking steps to minimize law enforcement’s ability to use it as an identifying tool but videos posted to these sites can still be used to identify crimes.

If the police come after you based on a social media post, you need an experienced attorney. Call the Law Office of John Freeman.