Facebook surveillance methods (and on places like Bebo, myspace, ebay etc) are very basic. anyone hoping for high tech 007 type stuff will be really disappointed.
All that happens is a copper (in the UK I think its by agreement Superintendent rank or above) tells the facebook admin – “This person/people have done something bad on facebook. I am a policeman and I want some info”.
Facebook admins check the person asking for info really is a policeman and then they give over the info – private messages, photos, the lot. Its really as simple as that. They don’t ask for court orders or justification other than what the Police tell them about the case. (Often one FB user has dobbed in another anyway)
All the American corporate run social networks do this, and justify it by saying they “need to keep children/young people safe” – as there is a lot of stalking and bullying on social networks so its hardly surprising.
Don’t put anything on these places you wouldn’t want a copper to see. Same goes for here as well, in both the public and private areas. Although we wouldn’t just hand stuff over, the mods here are not above the law, and the actions of bigger and more powerful websites than us have given cops a sense of entitlement to info.
