트위터등 쇼셜네트워크 감시시스템 실체 밝혀라 - 미국 시민단체, 정부상대 소송제기

위키리크를 통해 유럽연합 EU가 트위터등 소셜네트워크에 대한 감시를 하고 있다는 사실이 공개되면서
미국 시민단체등이 미 법무부등을 상대로 이에 대한 정보공개를 요청하는 소송을 제기하는등 대응에 나섰습니다

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) 과 캘리포니아주립대학 버클리의 로스쿨등은 어제
미연방법원 캘리포니아 북부법원에 소송을 제기했으며 소송피고는 국방부,법무부,국토안보부, 재무부, CIA,
국가정보국등 6개 정부기관입니다

시민단체등이 소송을 제기한 것은 정보자유화법[FOIA]에 의거해 10여차례에 걸쳐 정보제공을 요청했으나
받아들여지지 않은데 따른 것입니다

시민단체들은 지난 10월 5일 위키리크가 유럽연합에서 INDECT라는 쇼셜네트워크 정보수집시스템을 가동중
이라는 비밀문건을 전격 공개하자 미국에도 이같은 시스템이 존재할 것이라는 판단을 하고 있습니다

INDECT컨소시엄은 자연어 검색시스템 [NPL]등을 이용해 트위터, 페이스북, 유투브, 마이스페이스등의
사용자 정보를 추출하는 것은 물론 이들간의 채팅, 친소관계등을 파악해 대테러정보등을 수집하는 것으로
알려졌습니다

시민단체들은 여러 보도를 통해 알 수 있듯이 정부기관들이 이들 소셜네트워킹사이트를 정보수집용으로
이용한다고 하지만 다른 용도로도 사용될 수 있다며 정보수집범위와 방법등을 명백히 밝힐 것을 요구하고
있습니다

현재 시민단체의 정보공개요청 대부분은 아무런 답변도 없이 묵살되고 있으며 국토안보부, US마샬국,
육군등은 그같은 소셜네트워크 정보수집시스템이 없다는 간단한 답변만 보내온 상황입니다
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Government Surveillance Of Social Networks Challenged

Policies governing the usage of social network data remain unclear at many government agencies.

By Thomas Claburn,  InformationWeek
Dec. 2, 2009
URL: http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=222000383

The U.S. government's use of social networks as an investigatory tool is being challenged by two legal advocacy organizations.

On Tuesday, The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the Samuelson Law, Technology, and Public Policy Clinic at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law filed a lawsuit against six government agencies seeking to force the disclosure of policies governing the use of social networking sites for investigations, data-collection, and surveillance.

The lawsuit follows over a dozen Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests seeking this information from the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, the Department of Treasury, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and other agencies.

Many of these FOIA requests went unanswered.

The complaint cites various media reports about how government agencies have used social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, along with social video sites like YouTube, to investigate people and catch criminals.

"Although the Federal Government clearly uses social-networking Web sites to collect information, often for laudable reasons, it has not clarified the scope of its use of social-networking Web sites or disclosed what restrictions and oversight is in place to prevent abuse," the complaint states.

In a phone interview, James Tucker, a member of the Samuelson Law, Technology, and Public Policy Clinic, said, "We just want to make sure people are aware that this is how this information could possibly be used by their government."

Several agencies and organizations have responded to the FOIA requests, notably the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the Army, all of which said they had no relevant documents about using social networks as an investigatory resource, according to Tucker.

Surveillance and intelligence gathering from the Internet and social networks is not just an issue in the U.S.

In early October, Wikileaks published a document from the European INDECT Consortium that describes a system designed to mine Web logs, social networks, online forums, and news reports, and to use that data to generate electronic dossiers detailing online individuals and their links to one another.

http://www.informationweek.com/shared/printableArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=4OHBPRJ21VZOXQE1GHOSKHWATMY32JVN?articleID=222000383

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