Looks like the FBI wants to see who you associate with on social media now. They are wanting to create a application that monitors social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, in real-time to see where security risks may be.
They accidentally let the plan be known when they put out a market research request for a social media application. It also lists some of the requirements needed as Search capability, ability to create parameters on the fly, instant notification of data that has met the set requirements, maps. It lists Twitter specifically and then adds “any other publically available sites”.
Looks like the FBI isn’t the only one interested in this info. The Department of Homeland Security has also been urged to monitor social media as well. Since the data IS public (anyone can access it), there isn’t much that can be done to stop the monitoring. Many employers are also taking to reviewing any social media posts of prospective employees to see what that reveals about them. People have been rejected and also fired based on what is seen on places like Facebook and Twitter.
Moral to this story is don’t post anything you wouldn’t want your boss or any prospective boss to see. Keep it private among just your friends. Make it only viewable if you have friended the person and be picky with who you friend. You never know who might be reading those posts!
Source: Yahoo! News