Facebook has written a letter to the US Drug Enforcement Administration, demanding it stop operating fake profile pages and cease all agency activities on the social network that involve impersonation of others during ongoing DEA investigations.
“Requiring people to use their real identities on Facebook is
the primary mechanism we have to protect millions of people every
day, all around the world, from real harm,” wrote Facebook’s
Chief Security Officer Joe Sullivan in a letter to DEA
administrator Michele Leonhart.
According to Sullivan, using Facebook to impersonate others
“makes people feel less safe and secure when using [the]
service.”
“Indeed, as we have observed at Facebook, such deceptive
actions are often used to further harmful conduct, such as
trolling, hate speech, scams, bullying, and even domestic
violence. This impact is markedly different from undercover
investigations conducted in the ‘real’ world.”
The social network demanded the DEA “immediately confirm that
it has ceased all activities on Facebook that involve the
impersonation of others or that otherwise violate our terms and
policies.”
“We recently learned through media reports that the Drug
Enforcement Administration created fake Facebook accounts and
impersonated a Facebook user as part of its investigation of
alleged criminal conduct unrelated to Facebook,”
DEA sued for setting up fake Facebook account for
arrested woman
The letter is a response to a lawsuit fired by New York woman who
claimed that the US Drug Enforcement Administration set up a fake
Facebook account, with photos and other personal data from her
cellphone.
Sondra Arquiett was arrested in 2010 on charges of possessing
cocaine and intent to supply, and the social network’s page was
used to trick her associates into disclosing information.
The account showed Arquiett’s ‘status updates’ on
missing her boyfriend, posing on the hood of a BMW, or with her
son and niece. However, it was all the work of DEA Agent Timothy
Sinnigen, according to Arquiett’s federal lawsuit.
In a suit filed in August, Arquiett is claiming $250,000 in
compensation, saying she went through "fear and great
emotional distress" and that Sinningen had put her life in danger
by communicating through her fake identity with the “dangerous
individuals he was investigating.”
The DEA does not dispute Arquiett’s essential allegations, says
Sullivan in the letter.
But the DEA claims Arquiett ‘implicitly consented’ to the
agency’s conduct "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, Facebook
is deeply troubled by the claims and legal position,”
Sullivan adds.