If you send out a tweet, or privately post pictures on Facebook to a selected group of friends, can police turn those uploads against you?
In October, a man was arrested for using Twitter to help a demonstration at the G20 summit.
Now, a non-profit group thinks that that's going too far. The Electronic Frontier Foundation says the government is already using social networking data in some investigations. That's why they think all internet users deserve to know what information is collected and exactly can access it.
In an 8 page official complaint, EFF says anyone posting things on Facebook or Twitter deserves to know whether the government has access to it.
And the topic has internet users talking.
ACLU's legal director Vic Walzac says in this interview if the government would intervene in such situations in China or Iran, we would be saying it's a human rights violation, but when it happens here, it's a crime.
Others say that when you post something publicly, you should assume anyone including the government may read, copy, or use it however they want.
But the majority of the reactions I've read are surprise. It seems many users never think about the the government reading their tweets.
In October, a man was arrested for using Twitter to help a demonstration at the G20 summit.
Now, a non-profit group thinks that that's going too far. The Electronic Frontier Foundation says the government is already using social networking data in some investigations. That's why they think all internet users deserve to know what information is collected and exactly can access it.
In an 8 page official complaint, EFF says anyone posting things on Facebook or Twitter deserves to know whether the government has access to it.
And the topic has internet users talking.
ACLU's legal director Vic Walzac says in this interview if the government would intervene in such situations in China or Iran, we would be saying it's a human rights violation, but when it happens here, it's a crime.
Others say that when you post something publicly, you should assume anyone including the government may read, copy, or use it however they want.
But the majority of the reactions I've read are surprise. It seems many users never think about the the government reading their tweets.
