Shannon Tufts, PhD Government [email protected] How Social · LinkedIn, Instgram, etc) •Sharing by...

UNC School of Government

Shannon [email protected], 919-962-5438 1

Facebook, ChatBots, and Tweets, Oh My!

Welcome to the Wild World

of Social Media

Shannon Tufts, PhDAssociate Professor of Public Law &

[email protected]

HowR USocial

?



Social NetworksEmpower the People

Texting Video

Self-DestructingSecret



DatingMeeting

Fun Stuff on the Horizon



What else are you using?

Social Media “Investigative”

Tools

* socialmention.com

* pipl.com

* Knowem.com (i.e. ladykilla96)

* Google’s reverse image search

Get To Know These Tools!



Drugs, Sex, and Booze,We Got ‘Em

Social Media, Investigations, & Evidence

1. Access to Non-Public Sites1. Stored Communications Act Issues

2. Authenticity of Account; Hijacked Account (Hacked Account)

3. Veracity of Screen Capture

4. Preservation/Storage of Deleted or Old Material/Postings

• TweetDeck

• Download feature

• POP method

Burning Issues



Legal Steps to Access Non-Public Data

• Consent of the user• E-discovery demand to user• Informal request to social network• Subpoena to social network• Search warrant for law enforcement• Find the data in an alternative, public

location

Informal Request

• Smaller service providers may cooperate with requests from government

• Fugitive plays World of Warcraft

• Howard County, Indiana, Sheriff sends polite letter to operator of game

• Service provider reveals IP address, which leads to fugitive in Canada

Civil Subpoenas for Content

• Big service providers tend to resist• Crispin v. Christian Audigier, Inc.

– Civil subpoena to FB and Myspace quashed– Content protected under Stored

Communications Act– May be difference between private messages

and wall postings



Alternative Locations for Evidence• Notices and copies to email or phone SMS

(text)

• Replication at other sites (FB, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instgram, etc)

• Sharing by friends

• Cache on computer

Addressing the Authentication Issue

• Search Warrants: Can collect details from the service provider like IP address, time, application, mobile carrier and more

• Interact with the user (if permitted)• Gather corroborating detail about user statements,

activities and timeline• Corroborating details can be collected from multiple

sources (Facebook, Twitter, special interest forums, games, phone, witnesses and so on)

Veracity of Screen Capture



Social Media, Public Records, and Employee Policies

Public Records?

Definition of a Public Record (NCGS 132-1)

• All documents, papers, letters, maps, books, photographs, films, sound recordings, magnetic or other tapes, electronic data-processing records, artifacts, or other documentary material, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received pursuant to law or ordinance in connection with the transaction of public business by any agency of North Carolina government or its subdivisions.

• Agency of North Carolina government or its subdivisions shall mean and include every public office, public officer or official (State or local, elected or appointed), institution, board, commission, bureau, council, department, authority or other unit of government of the State or of any county, unit, special district or other political subdivision of government.



Examples of Facebook Postings and Retention Requirements

“Short-Term Value” or “Routine Correspondence and Memoranda”

Categories

The “likes” would either be considered public records of “Short-Term Value or “Routine Correspondence and Memoranda” per the County/Municipal Agency retention schedules. The record can be destroyed per the jurisdiction’s defined “short term or administrative value” policy.

**Re-posts do not need to be retained, as they are not the original source of the content.

Citizen Complaints & Service Requests

This comment could be considered a citizen complaint and would be categorized under “Citizen Complaints and Service Requests”. The record can be destroyed one year after resolution of the complaint.



How To Retain the Public Record

• Archiving services• Download features on SM platforms• POP (with time/date stamps)

What About My Personal SM Accounts & Public Records?

And here we go…

• If you are transacting public business, then it constitutes a public record, be it a FB post and comments, private message, etc.



Personal Pages and Opinions

Employee Behavior?

Government Workers are DIFFERENT!



HSPD Social Media Policy Section V. Personal Use



Apply the Policy: Round 1

Officer A’s FB Posting“Sitting here reading posts referencing rookie cops becoming instructors. Give me a freaking break, over 15 years of data collected by the FBI in reference to assaults on officers and officer deaths shows that on average it takes at least 5 years for an officer to acquire the necessary skill set to know the job and perhaps even longer to acquire the knowledge to teach other officers. But in todays world of instant gratification and political correctness we have rookies in specialty units, working as field training officer’s and even as instructors. Becoming a master of your trade is essential, not only does your life depend on it but more importantly the lives of others. Leadership is first learning, knowing and then doing.”



Officer B’s FB ResponseWell said bro, I agree 110%... Not to mention you are seeing more and more younger Officers being promoted in a Supervisor/ or roll. It’s disgusting and makes me sick to my stomach DAILY. LEO Supervisors should be promoted by experience... And what comes with experience are “experiences” that “they” can pass around to the Rookies and younger less experienced Officers. Perfect example, and you know who I’m talking about..... How can ANYONE look up, or give respect to a SGT in Patrol with ONLY 1 1/2yrs experience in the street? Or less as a matter of fact. It’s a Law Suit waiting to happen. And you know who will be responsible for that Law Suit? A Police Vet, who knew tried telling and warn the admin for promoting the young Rookie who was too inexperienced for that roll to begin with. Im with ya bro....smh*

Policy Violation?




Policy Violation?




My Apologies in AdvanceThese are a police officer’s public FB postings

Policy Violation?




Profile Pictures

Policy Violation?

Bottom line:this should not be ur profile pic



Social Media Ethics For Legal Professionals

Big Themes• Public, Private, Priblic?

• Social media activities must follow rules

• Clients must be counseled about usage

Priblic World:this should not be ur profile pic



Think Before You Tweet“Naughty, naughty boy”

“Why is Phil Klein smiling? There is nothing to smile about, douchebag.”

Tweets by Sarah Peterson Herr, a court research attorney, at an ethics hearing

Tweet Resulted In…

So Many Rules, So Little Time• Revealing confidential information • Embarrassing your client, yourself, your employer, others • Violating advertising/solicitation rules • Violating “no contact” rule • Pretexting• Ex Parte communications with judges • Inadvertently entering into an attorney-client relationship• Committing unauthorized practice of law • Getting caught in a lie • Violating substantive law (infringement, defamation, etc.)



Confidentiality & Embarrassment

Advertising Issues

“Got that W! My client is delighted. Who wants to be next?”

• Can be “communication” or “advertising” or “testimonial” but definitely a violation

More Advertising Issues• False or Misleading Statements:

– South Carolina Ethics Opinion 12-03, for example, concluded that lawyers may not participate in websites designed to allow non-lawyer users to post legal questions where the website describes the attorneys answering those questions as “experts.”

• Everything you do on social media is potentially an advertisement

• Know the T&Cs: inadvertent prohibited solicitations



Ex Parte Communications

Now About Those Clients

A Little Facebook Story



Do You Know This One?

Final Thought:Check Your SM Settings!

• Turn on “Approve all tagged posts or photos prior to posting to my page”

• Limit who can send you a friend request • Limit searching for your account on search

engines

• Check pipl.com and google.com for your name, images, etc!

Shannon Tufts, PhD Government [email protected] How Social · LinkedIn, Instgram, etc) •Sharing by...

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