can police view your facebook
can police view your facebook
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Discussion

dba7108

Original Poster:

738 posts

199 months

Wednesday 11th March 2015
quotequote all
A friend of a friend works in CID. My mate started bringing him out to the pub and he joined the rest of us on more and more occasions for weekly drinks. Now this bloke is a bit of a tosser to say the least and on a few occasions has proven himself to be a sneaky sh$t. He sometimes comes out to the pub with us on a thursday and on a few occasions has dropped hints about knowing stuff on our facebook/about us. I have nothing to hide and use my facebook to message friends etc but what he said was pretty specfic and got me thinking -Can police just view your facebook or do they need a court order, and even if they need a court order or not can they just do it, or is it only Facebook themselves that can view this information.

Sgt Bilko

1,929 posts

246 months

Thursday 12th March 2015
quotequote all
Anyone can view Facebook without a warrant. To get beyond the public view, you have to be a specially trained digital forensics officer and it can be used in court. Warrant not needed but it does become disclosable material.

You would be surprised to know how easy it is to get into the private area without "cracking your password". I've seen the pages accessed in seconds which were previously locked up to non-friends.

Warrants are only generally issued to arrest or enter, search and seize on a premises.

Edited by Sgt Bilko on Thursday 12th March 00:10

hman

7,497 posts

225 months

Thursday 12th March 2015
quotequote all
the guy sounds like a nosey twerp - I suggest a full on facebook wind up.

Kyodo

754 posts

155 months

Thursday 12th March 2015
quotequote all
hman said:
the guy sounds like a nosey twerp - I suggest a full on facebook wind up.
smile

marshalla

15,902 posts

232 months

Thursday 12th March 2015
quotequote all
Sgt Bilko said:
Anyone can view Facebook without a warrant. To get beyond the public view, you have to be a specially trained digital forensics officer and it can be used in court. Warrant not needed but it does become disclosable material.

You would be surprised to know how easy it is to get into the private area without "cracking your password". I've seen the pages accessed in seconds which were previously locked up to non-friends.

Warrants are only generally issued to arrest or enter, search and seize on a premises.

Edited by Sgt Bilko on Thursday 12th March 00:10
No warrant required. It falls under RIPA authorisation for covert/intrusive surveillance - and this is required if even the public material is to be viewed on more than a few occasions (viewing public material once or twice does not require authorisation).

As for the rules around "friending", use of others as friends and means for obtaining complete copies of all Faceache data...well, there's a whole chapter on that in a very dull book.

P.S. - where he works is largely irrelevant if he's merely doing it as a tosser.



Edited by marshalla on Thursday 12th March 09:21

CallorFold

860 posts

164 months

Thursday 12th March 2015
quotequote all
First simple thing to check, is your Facebook public? Are things you post viewable by Friends, and Friends of Friends?

If so, maybe lock down your page a bit.


Bigends

6,193 posts

159 months

Thursday 12th March 2015
quotequote all
If hes trawling Facebook at work - it should be for some Policing purpose only and certainly shouldn't be disclosing the results of those viewings in a pub

Collectingbrass

3,005 posts

226 months

Thursday 12th March 2015
quotequote all
Depending on your privacy settings anyone can see your facebook as I understand it, so I'd ask to see his warrant card as it sounds to me like this friend of a friend is Walting (http://www.arrse.co.uk/wiki/Walts)

V8forweekends

2,501 posts

155 months

Thursday 12th March 2015
quotequote all
It is surprisingly easy to do stuff on Facebook. Ex has blocked me from seeing anything on hers (and vice versa) but I can easy see her stuff just by using another account. Not illegal and I don't need to be BiB for it.

BTW I am not stalking her or anything creepy - I was just curious when I noticed she'd blocked me.

I wouldn't post anything on there you don't want to be public.

dba7108

Original Poster:

738 posts

199 months

Thursday 12th March 2015
quotequote all
all my settings are private and you cant see anything unless you are friends with me. On one occasion we were out and he thought my friend insulted him (he didnt, the copper completly misheard). When i got home my phone beeped and i had a fb update - looked on my wall and the copper who I was friends with him on FB at that time had written this cack on my wall on the lines of im going to hurt your mate and cut him up as he insulted me - kinda thing a 13 year might write. I deleted it off and told him to stop behaving like a moron as my family can see that. The next day he messaged me to say sorry and he misheard and got it wrong. Few other occasions but he generally thinks he is in the mafia or something. Cant tell you how much i dislike him!

Dibble

13,286 posts

271 months

Thursday 12th March 2015
quotequote all
If he's posting rubbish like that OP, I'd be considering reporting it to the Professional Standards Branch. Idiots like this do the majority of us no favours at all.

Jasandjules

72,662 posts

260 months

Thursday 12th March 2015
quotequote all
Sorry, he posted up that he would "cut" your friend? I.e. attack him with a knife? I'd be reporting that to the police myself. He needs locking up.

zcacogp

11,239 posts

275 months

Thursday 12th March 2015
quotequote all
As said, comments like that from a copper should be directed to someone in higher authority. That's not acceptable by anyone, least of all a serving officer.


Oli.

Rude-boy

22,227 posts

264 months

Thursday 12th March 2015
quotequote all
zcacogp said:
As said, comments like that from a copper should be directed to someone in higher authority. That's not acceptable by anyone, least of all a serving officer.


Oli.
This.

And CID are a bit, well, special as a rule...

Eclassy

1,201 posts

153 months

Thursday 12th March 2015
quotequote all
Unless you have seen him wear a police officers uniform and on duty, I strongly doubt he is a real police officer.

No police officer no matter how loco will post such comments on someone elses facebook page.


focusxr5

332 posts

147 months

Thursday 12th March 2015
quotequote all
IF he genuinely is a cop then he needs reporting for comments like that. Exactly the sort of moron that gives the job a bad name while the majority try to patch up the damage that the few have caused. IF he is a cop, you'll probably find that most of his colleagues think he is a tt as well.

quiraing

1,649 posts

170 months

Thursday 12th March 2015
quotequote all
I've heard a long-term serving officer blab out some really sensitive info about other people which are (were?) not public knowledge. The guy is a bit of a gossip and tends to try to impress his friends. I have nothing against the guy but he's introducing gossip "into the grapevine", a lot of which is true but is nobody's business, and some of which is merely speculation but is then taken as true as a police officer said it. This has caused a lot of harm to people who did not deserve it.

Any comments?


Bigends

6,193 posts

159 months

Thursday 12th March 2015
quotequote all
quiraing said:
I've heard a long-term serving officer blab out some really sensitive info about other people which are (were?) not public knowledge. The guy is a bit of a gossip and tends to try to impress his friends. I have nothing against the guy but he's introducing gossip "into the grapevine", a lot of which is true but is nobody's business, and some of which is merely speculation but is then taken as true as a police officer said it. This has caused a lot of harm to people who did not deserve it.

Any comments?
Anything he knows as a result of his job should stay at work

Jasandjules

72,662 posts

260 months

Thursday 12th March 2015
quotequote all
quiraing said:
Any comments?
Report him to his superior.

mph1977

12,467 posts

199 months

Thursday 12th March 2015
quotequote all
zcacogp said:
As said, comments like that from a copper should be directed to someone in higher authority. That's not acceptable by anyone, least of all a serving officer.


Oli.
PSD would be on that like a tramp on hot chips