FBI to expand mining Twitter and Facebook to watch who the hell ever they want with impunity

FBI seeking tools to find threat info in Facebook, Twitter posts
By Alice Lipowicz – 30 January, 2012 – Federal Computer Week

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking to “search and scrape” information from social media websites, including Facebook and Twitter, for the purpose of identifying possible domestic and global threats as they develop.

The potential threats would be mapped and supplemented with additional data using “mash-up” techniques, according to a Request for Information directed to vendors published by the FBI on Jan. 19.

The FBI’s Strategic Information and Operations Center asked vendors to describe what services and software they could provide and at what price. Responses are due by Feb. 10.

The FBI is looking for an application that would search, collect and analyze publicly-available messages posted on social media networks. It notes that the networks have become primary sources of on-the-ground information on public reaction to global and domestic events and fomenting possibly threatening initiatives, the RFI said.

“Social media has become a primary source of intelligence because it has become the premier first response to key events and the primal alert to possible developing situations,” the RFI stated.

The goal is to collect and analyze the raw data to improve real-time situational awareness. Desired capabilities include the ability to quickly “vet, identify and geo-locate breaking events, incidents and emerging threats.”

The FBI is looking for a solution offering an automated capability to collect and analyze data from social networks including Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, along with news sites. Users should be able to create new keyword searches. Foreign-language tweets would be translated into English. …more