Senator Leahy Slams DEA For Impersonating A Woman On Facebook

from the but-what-will-happen dept

Wed, Oct 22nd 2014 2:47pm — Mike Masnick

Apparently, it's not just Facebook that is furious with the DEA for impersonating a woman, posting pictures from her phone, in an attempt to get evidence concerning a drug dealer. Senator Patrick Leahy has now sent an angry letter to the DOJ about this situation as well.

I am greatly concerned by recent reports that the Drug Enforcement Administration used the identity of an unsuspecting young woman to create a public Facebook profile to interact with suspected drug traffickers. This extraordinary tactic placed this woman and her family at risk, and I expect the Justice Department to reconsider the use of such techniques.

Senator Leahy didn't hold back in explaining just why this whole situation was "appalling."

Viewers of the fake profile, which was only removed from Facebook this month, could believe the woman was currently involved with illicit activities or was actively cooperating with a law enforcement investigation. The DEA agent's decision to post suggestive photographs of the woman as well as pictures of her young child and niece is appalling and placed them at even greater risk.

I understand that cooperating defendants often provide critical assistance to criminal investigations. However, the decision to cooperate and the nature of that cooperation is a decision to be made by the defendant and the defendant alone. Law enforcement agencies should not risk the safety of innocents or those who are serving their debt to society without their knowledge or consent. Although the Justice Department has indicated that this incident is under review, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of New York has thus far defended the practice. I hope the Justice Department will agree that creating an online profile using an unsuspecting person's identity to communicate with criminals is unethical, potentially dangerous, and should not be condoned by our nation's law enforcement agencies.

However, remember, this is the very same DOJ which has argued in other cases that violating the terms of service of certain websites is a violation of the CFAA. But, of course, when the government itself does it, in much more appalling situations, they don't seem to think there's any problem.

Leahy Letter to Holder (PDF)Leahy Letter to Holder (Text)

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: dea, doj, impersonation, patrick leahy
Companies: facebook

17 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Anonymous Coward, 22 Oct 2014 @ 2:50pm

Mike Rogers would say the DOJ should be charged with Murder...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 22 Oct 2014 @ 2:59pm

Yet another case of the government acting on the philosophy of "the ends justify the means".
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 22 Oct 2014 @ 3:23pm

Smartphone encryption might have prevented this
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Mason Wheeler (profile), 22 Oct 2014 @ 3:30pm

Unethical and potentially dangerous?
I'd go a step beyond that. If I did something like that, couldn't I be charged with identity theft, fraud, and a handful of similar ugliness?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
That One Guy (profile), 22 Oct 2014 @ 3:41pm

Re:
No, he almost certainly wouldn't.

Because it was the government putting the woman and her kid at risk, and since 'The government is always right', clearly any risk is an acceptable one. /s
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Scote, 22 Oct 2014 @ 3:52pm

Not so much
"Smartphone encryption might have prevented this"

Not so much...

https://xkcd.com/538/

They got her "consent" to go through her phone...just not to use the photos. They could have just as easily intimidated her into giving a password as they did to get her "consent".
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 22 Oct 2014 @ 4:59pm

Re:
Rogers would pat the DEA agent on the back.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 22 Oct 2014 @ 5:01pm

Re:
and Treason
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 22 Oct 2014 @ 5:02pm

Put the DEA agent in prison and see how prisoners treat people who endanger children he'll get a quick lesson on exploitation.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
beech, 22 Oct 2014 @ 5:07pm

The "slam" is nice I guess, but what is anyone actually going to DO about it. Lets see some of the cops in jail over this.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 22 Oct 2014 @ 5:23pm

Re:
They will get a paid vacation
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 22 Oct 2014 @ 5:37pm

Do you solemnly swear to urinate and defaecate upon the constitution of the united states of America, so help you god? I do do.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 22 Oct 2014 @ 6:58pm

Think of the children! For shame DEA, for shame.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
David, 22 Oct 2014 @ 8:34pm

Re:
More like "Yes, we can!"
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Techanon, 22 Oct 2014 @ 9:03pm

Re: Re:
which is argable the same thing.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 22 Oct 2014 @ 11:38pm

That judge dread comment "I am the law" springs to mind every time law enforcement acts like the laws do not apply to them.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 23 Oct 2014 @ 2:56am

So, what sort of penalties are attached to doing something that isn't "condoned?"

Tangentially connected pop-culture reference:

Is that how it’s done? Hm?
“Objection, your Honor!”
“Overruled”
“No, no. I STRENUOUSLY object.”
“Oh! You strenuously object. Then I’ll take some time and reconsider.”
[ link to this | view in thread ]