Feds defend DEA agent who used racy pix to set up phony FB

[rhoenix]

A special agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration seized a woman’s cell phone and used racy photos he found to set up a phony Facebook – and the U.S. Department of Justice is defending his actions.

DOJ lawyers claimed Timothy Sinnigen had a right to impersonate Sondra Prince online, and without her knowledge, as part of an ongoing drug investigation, reported Buzzfeed.

Prince, who now goes by Sondra Arquiett, found out someone had been using her identity in 2010 after a friend asked her about pictures of her posted on the social network site, which showed her wearing wearing a bikini and underwear or posing on the hood of a BMW with her legs spread.

The woman was surprised to see the photos on Facebook, because she had never even set up a page.

Arquiett had pleaded guilty in 2011 to taking part in a cocaine distribution ring, and a judge sentenced her to probation after noting the single mother had accepted responsibility for her minor role in the operation.

Sinnigen set up a fake Facebook page using Arquiett’s real name while she awaited trial, and the agent posted photos he found on her seized phone and used the account to communicate with at least one wanted fugitive, the website reported.

Facebook’s community standards prohibit accounts set up to impersonate another person, and a spokesman for the social networking site told Buzzfeed that no exceptions are made for law enforcement officers.

However, the profile remained accessible to the public until Buzzfeed’s report was published, although it has since been removed.

Law enforcement officers have long been permitted to use some deception to aid in their investigation, but a privacy expert said the case raised some new legal and ethical concerns.

Ryan Calo, a professor at University of Washington School of Law, said Sinnigen’s actions were different from traditional undercover work because the agent assumed another person’s identity without their consent.

Arquiett, who is now 28 years old, sued Sinnigen in federal court, claiming he violated her privacy and placed her in danger by communicating with drug suspects and wanted fugitives.

The agent also posted photos of Arquiett’s son and niece, who were young children at the time.

The government justified the agent’s actions – claiming Arquiett “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 investigation.”

However, privacy experts told Buzzfeed the government’s argument was problematic, because a person could consent to a search of her home, for example, without agreeing to allow photos found on her coffee table to be posted online.

This bothers me, for multiple reasons. I get that police and authorities routinely impersonate criminals in order to close cases, but this to me comes very close to something suspicious.

The lines at the end of the article make a good point from privacy advocates that I agree with: "...the government’s argument was problematic, because a person could consent to a search of her home, for example, without agreeing to allow photos found on her coffee table to be posted online."

[frigidmagi]

Holy hell, I hope there's an appeal to this.

[Hotfoot]

Um, yeah, no, that's some fucking bullshit. When you use someone's identity, that's akin to using them as an informant, and you DO NOT DO THAT WITHOUT EXPLICIT CONSENT. Anyone grabbed in that bust might think this woman was working with the Feds to bring them in, and that puts a big goddamn target on her back.

That he put her children at risk as well is a fucking damning piece of evidence. Even if she HAD consented, her children couldn't consent to being put in that kind of danger. This guy crossed the goddamned line and you know what? He needs to be hung out to dry on this one to set an example. There had damn well better be an appeal coming, because this is unjustifiable on every level.

[rhoenix]

An update:

Federal prosecutors are reviewing an incident in which a Drug Enforcement Agency created a counterfeit Facebook profile and posted risqué personal pictures the agency obtained from a female suspect's mobile phone without her consent.

Details surrounding the DEA creating the fake Facebook account in the woman's name—a profile complete with pictures seized from her mobile phone during a 2010 drug-related arrest—were disclosed Monday by Buzzfeed.

The Justice Department told Buzzfeed on Tuesday that the "incident at issue in this case is under review." The department did not immediately respond to Ars for comment.

The woman, who at the time went under the name Sondra Prince, eventually was sentenced to probation and six months of home confinement. The DEA created a phony Facebook profile in her name and maintained it for at least three months in 2010 in a bid to nab other suspects connected to an alleged dope ring.

After discovering this, she sued in a New York federal court, and the government just responded. The authorities said the counterfeit account was for "legitimate law enforcement purposes." Among other things, the government said it used the Facebook account to send a friend request to a wanted fugitive.

The woman's phony profile has been removed from Facebook, which has a policy against impostors.

In 2009, the government successfully prosecuted a woman for creating a fake MySpace account, which was used to cyberbully a girl who eventually committed suicide. A federal judge, however, acquitted defendant Lori Drew on accusations of unauthorized computer access under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

I need to reiterate that line toward the bottom: "The woman's phony profile has been removed from Facebook, which has a policy against impostors.

In 2009, the government successfully prosecuted a woman for creating a fake MySpace account, which was used to cyberbully a girl who eventually committed suicide. A federal judge, however, acquitted defendant Lori Drew on accusations of unauthorized computer access under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act."