First responders and law enforcement can find valuable and helpful information on social media. Information from social media can be used in conjunction with other sources of information to help gauge a situation before law enforcement or first responders are actually at the site. New tools are also allowing agencies to sift through the mountain of postings to identify social media posts that may indicate a threat to an individual or society at large. As always, the interest from these “agencies” raises questions of free speech and privacy. Dale Peet’s article “Social Media Analytics Can Aid Law Enforcement, First Responders In Civil Unrest, Disasters, Investigations” provides a thorough look at the benefits to such agencies in maintaining an active role in social media.

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Here’s a follow up to Friday’s post on Homeland Security’s monitoring of social media for potential threats. James Verrinder highlights the “Privacy Concerns Raised Over US Government Social Media Tracking.”

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Once again, the Department of Homeland Security is being urged to increase its monitoring of Social Media sites for “threats”. Should you be worried about your privacy the next time you tweet or post to Facebook? Mark Hosenball examines the issue in “US Lawmakers Press for Internet Monitoring.”

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