A federal district judge ruled that the FBI could not maintain its covert domestic social media spying. The judge was unimpressed by the argument that the FBI had to protect the information to keep criminals from knowing the capabilities and techniques used by law enforcement. (Courthouse News Service, November 18, 2019, by Nicholas Iovino)
When the FBI refused to confirm or deny the existence of records on social media spying, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a Freedom of Information Act request that led to the judge’s ruling. The FBI must now reveal the documents pertaining to a known technique in immigration and transportation investigations, that the court says will not reveal how the FBI uses special tools. (Bloomberg Law, November 19, 2019, by Bernie Pazanowski)
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