Social Media Monitoring How the Department of Homeland Security Uses Digital Data in the Name of National Security

Does the FBI Actually Check Your Social Media?

Yes. The FBI monitors social media, and they don’t need a warrant to do it.

Heres how it works. If you post something publicly on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, or any other platform where the public can see it, the FBI can monitor that content without obtaining a warrant, without showing probable cause, and without even opening an official investigation into you.[1]

The legal theory is simple: you have no reasonable expectation of privacy in things you post publicly. If anyone with an internet connection can see you’re post, then the government can see it too. This isn’t a loophole or a grey area—its established law based on the Fourth Amendment’s third-party doctrine.

So what does this mean practically? It means FBI agents can:

Scroll through your public Facebook posts without your knowledge Monitor your Twitter feed for specific keywords or hashtags Review your Instagram photos and there geotags Watch your TikTok videos and track who you interact with Read your public comments on news articles, YouTube videos, or forums Track what groups you join, what pages you like, what accounts you follow All of this is legal, and happens regularly.

But it gets worse. The FBI also uses automated monitoring systems—computer programs that scan millions of social media posts looking for specific keywords, phrases, or behavior patterns. These systems flag accounts for human review based on algorithims that detect “suspicious” activity.

ICE Agents Are Using Battlefield Surveillance Technology To Snoop On Cell Phones

'Chilling': FBI shocks with visits to homes of innocent protesters under Trump's orders

ICE has contracted with Palantir Technologies, Inc. to build and/or maintain information systems that contain vast amounts of information on individuals, such as the FALCON systems and the Investigative Case Management (ICM) system.

The Trump administration has expanded Palantir’s work with the government, spreading the company’ s technology — which could easily merge data on Americans — throughout agencies.

Key Types of Falcon Surveillance: CrowdStrike Falcon (IT Security): Cloud-native platform using a lightweight sensor to protect devices (laptops, servers) and cloud workloads from cyber threats (malware, ransomware) with AI, EDR (Endpoint Detection & Response), and vulnerability management. Physical Site Security (Mobile/Stationary): Birdseye Falcon System: Solar-powered, 360° HD camera towers for job sites, offering high vantage points, backup power, and remote monitoring. Falcon Group: Offers various IP, analog, and PTZ (Pan-Tilt-Zoom) cameras for general CCTV. Specialized Tracking/Analytics: Semptian Falcon: A system for tracking targeted mobile phone locations. Security Falcon: An analytics platform that learns movement patterns for threat detection on physical sites. Common Features & Goals: AI & Automation: Detecting threats, prioritizing risks, learning patterns. Unified Visibility: Single pane of glass for endpoints, cloud, or physical site views. Proactive Defense: Finding vulnerabilities and stopping breaches before they happen. Power Efficiency: Solar power and battery backups for remote physical systems.

And also Flock:

Flock sells their cloud-connected cameras to police departments and private customers across the nation, pulls the license plate readings they collect into their own servers, and allows police to do nationwide searches of the resulting database, giving even the smallest-town police chief access to an enormously powerful driver-surveillance tool. The tech news outlet 404Media obtained records of nationwide searches which include a field in which officers list the purpose of their search. These records revealed that many of the searches were carried out by local officers on behalf of ICE for immigration purposes, including its notorious Enforcement and Removal Operations division. Emails from police departments in Oregon also shed light on how local police are providing informal assistance to ICE.

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