Watch What You Say... Online

Can't find me on my cell? Can't track me down at the office? Have you checked Twitter? Or perused Facebook? Social networking sites are great for tracking people down, but they're even better for checking people out!

But then, you knew that...right? If you think only your "friends" have access to what you post...think again. It's old news that employers and colleges may take a peek at your online writing, but few people realize it can be a great source of discovery and evidence for cops, investigators, and lawyers.

There's so much to be learned from one's "profile page"...from marital status to whereabouts, to who your friends, networks, causes, and affiliates are. And that doesn't even include photos on other people's wall posts. All of these will give someone a pretty good picture of who you are, where you are, and what you're doing. As Belinda Luscombe so aptly points out in her Time.com article, Facebook and Divorce:

"Lawyers, love these sites, which can be evidentiary gold mines. Did your husband's new girlfriend Twitter about getting a new piece of jewelry? The court might regard that as marital assets being disbursed to a third party."

Uh-oh.

Lest you think you're safe if you don't accept a person as a "friend" on a social website, all that person has to do is jump onto someone else's computer to get a sense of the smack you are talking, the dirty laundry you are airing, or the information that you (or others are posting) that can turn into a smoking gun, or at least a damning piece of impeachment evidence. If you don't believe me, ask Casey Anthony how much of her MySpace profile is now part of the official discovery in the murder case against her.

As a prosecutor, the first thing I do when I get a case is to Google the victim, the suspect, and all the material witnesses. I run them all through Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, You Tube and see what I might get. I also do a "Google image search" and see what pops up. Sometimes there's nothing, but other times I get the goods-- pictures, status updates, and better yet, blogs and articles they've written.

How fantastic is that? A blog written by the suspect about his mind set, plans, or ideas....hmmm....no Fifth Amendment problems here. And it's a beautiful statement in his own words. It's all there for the taking and I take it and shove it right down his throat in court.

And let me tell you, I am not alone. I anticipate that the lawyer on the other side will do the same thing, so I prepare my witnesses and victims for it, just as I'm now preparing you. So all you potential litigants, parties to lawsuits, plaintiffs, defendants, victims, and suspects....don't say I didn't tell you. You, too, are being watched, searched, Googled and twittered. And that means you, too, counsel!

Comments

[knerd]

If there's a file on everybody, there's "a file on nobody." We might as well all get to know each other. We'll be working together for quite some time.

[ifihadahammer]

Ok, so I just googled myself. As it turns out, there are a lot of hoochies that share my name. So how is anyone to prove which one is me?

[sisterdebmac]

So is anybody Googling Robin Sax for dirt right now...? Just sayin'.

[ramblingjohnny]

Part 1

My job is to collect data online and that made me a little paranoid. So here my tricks to protect your online privacy. All those online networking sites ask for your names but it not an obligation to give them YOUR REAL NAME AND ADDRESS! Webmail you shall use all the time and when you create an email account don't give your real names and address too! Just these two precaution will throw a wrench on any amateur trying to find dirt on you just by googling your name.

They will have to link you to your online nick and that could be hard this is how to make this even more harder! Only a fool register a printer warranty only an even bigger fool buy a printer or any hardware with a credit or debit card! Most printer leave trace on every page they print so forget shredding if you do something shady don't even own a printer!

They could get data from your ISP so to add another layer of security you could choose to never log on the net if it was not behind at least one TOR proxy node. They could seize your computer but you do a fresh Ubuntu install and formated everything 2 times a years and that happen to be now if you have warning that the government is coming for you format! Format! And format if it good for Cheney it good for you!

[ramblingjohnny]

Part 2
Somebody even more paranoid will always boot off a USB stick or even better an SD card if the crap hit the fan a USB stick can easily be destroyed in 2 minutes and an SD card can be snap in 10 seconds you can even mail to yourself an SD card in a regular mail envelope!

Only an idiot would be doing something shady using a Microsoft or Apple product! I guarantee the government has back door access to any computer that is running a closed source OS! You want privacy go Linux! You should never enable automatic login and it always smart to have a log off shortcut on your desktop! Hell I known a few peoples who have a format everything shortcut on their own desktop but that overkill!

Setup a strong password, never print it and when your not using your computer log off. They can seize your computer they cannot seize your brain you have the right to remain silent! SO DO SO STUPID! You got nothing to tell anybody and if arrested the only thing you ask is for a Lawyer nothing else!

[ramblingjohnny]

Part 3

A side note on Linux and the open source you know you can easily find way to encrypt folders and files with encryption keys that would give the NSA a run for their money! A lot of what I just wrote can and is being used by Iranians right now to survive and still communicate with the outside world!

The best defense is a strong offense if anybody ever sue me the first thing am doing is research everybody involve from the Judge, the prosecutor, court clerk, Jury members, witness and expert witness. I doubt that you can find dirt on me online because I live a pretty boring life anyway. I guarantee you one thing sue me and I will find a truckload of dirt on somebody in that courtroom considering who name some of them in the past my money on the Judge!

[ailbhe]

How do you know you have the right person? Loads of people share the same name and location.

Surely you would have to link the account to the individuals ISP to prove that the facebook/t­witter/mys­pace/perso­nal blog actually belonged to them.

[fedupinfla]

It usually happens when they seize a person's computer hard drive....

[ramblingjohnny]

Boot from a USB stick or even better an SD card. SD card are so small you can mail them in a regular envelope and they can be destroyed pretty fast.

[Cacaoatl]

How do you know if you have someone's actual account and not a fake? How relevant are those Facebook quizzes?

[Cacaoatl]

People tend to lie and exaggerate on the Internet. How do you separate the pure bullshit from real evidence? How do you separate relevant information from pure nonsense? Or if you were prosecuting me for murder would the Facebook quiz that says I wouldn't win a fight against Chuck Norris be relevant?

[plebeianswillrevolt]

i won't twit for ___t. Well maybe just a bit,