Minnesota, USA –November 8, 2011 – It is no secret that the U.S. CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) uses social media as a way of tracking possible criminal activity, signs of threats, and the like. But we must also realize that it most cases it is not only specifically searching for people or keywords of threats, but also sifting through all content like our chat logs, messages, tweets, and other data; do not get too upset because this sector does not consist of that many people –in a building in Virginia industrial park. Basically, it is not likely that the CIA is truly tracking your every mood, move, or idea. The CIA is particularly interested in activity abroad –like in S Korea – where a protest may occur or something of that nature.
But social media is only a step in the investigation of activity abroad. If the CIA spots a post that could point to disturbance in an area, it can search the newspaper of that location to see if anything is posted. In addition to this, it can even tap into phone conversations to expand the knowledge. Basically, there are no secrets or missing data; the CIA is interested in all world activity but of course pays close attention to countries like China or North Korea. It has ‘security’ as a top priority and tries to ensure that nothing is immediate threat to the White House, U.S., or any other country.
The sector responsible for monitoring social media was not initially set up for this purpose; in fact, it was due to the boom of online discussion activity after 9/11. After Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks became popular, it only made sense for the CIA to include it as a resource. We share nearly everything on it –especially if anything bizarre or outrageous happens in our area; this is the way the CIA gets information so quickly. If we post it, the CIA will surely know it.
But according to several reports, the system for searching social media is still in the beginning stages; the ability to surf through billions of profiles and target the information is difficult due to language differences, slang/jargon, and much more. Perhaps the CIA is using only keywords; in this case if you want attention, go ahead and write a comment for them. Make sure that it is useful for them and does not make you look suspicious or life could become difficult.
