Police Can Use Fake Instagram Accounts to Try To See Your Private Photos

[Blade of Grass]

So you're saying police should be required to go to a judge and ask for a warrant in order to send a friend request?

Of course they should. This isn't just a random person making a fake account, it's a targeted attack by the police on a person to gain information, and I believe, that like every other form of information gathering, should require authorization by a judge.

I'm not saying that the people who post incriminating photos to social media don't deserve to be caught, but I feel that this would probably fail the Oakes proportionality test (if it was in Canada).

[Blue fellow]

Because they are creating a fake account. Read the terms of service in any social media website, you are not suppose to create a fake account. Sure no one will won't sue just because average Joe created a fake account to play a prank on someone it's not worth the trouble, but the police should know better than to disobey the law.

Violating terms of service does not mean it is illegal.

 

Of course they should. This isn't just a random person making a fake account, it's a targeted attack by the police on a person to gain information, and I believe, that like every other form of information gathering, should require authorization by a judge.

I'm not saying that the people who post incriminating photos to social media don't deserve to be caught, but I feel that this would probably fail the Oakes proportionality test (if it was in Canada).

 

Except sending a friend request is literally asking for consent to view the images. So you're saying police have to ask a judge if they can ask a person if they can view their images.  This is the same as going up to a person and saying "Hey can I see your photos?". Unlike information gathering that requires a warrant, this one is consensual. Consensual forms of information gathering have never required warrants in the past.

[ShadowCaptain]

oh no my penis  private photos

[NumLock21]

How does this fake account work. So many of these IG users just basically accept "friends" even without knowing who that person really is.

[Blade of Grass]

 

Except sending a friend request is literally asking for consent to view the images. So you're saying police have to ask a judge if they can ask a person if they can view their images.  This is the same as going up to a person and saying "Hey can I see your photos?". Unlike information gathering that requires a warrant, this one is consensual. Consensual forms of information gathering have never required warrants in the past.

True, but the real question is are they really consenting to a search? Can you unknowningly consent to a search by the police, and if so, is that evidence admissible?

 

I'm not American, and I don't know their laws in depth, but in Canada I suspect you could quite easily get the evidence excluded with a S.24(2) challenge. In Canada the test is pretty simple, "Would the admission of the evidence bring the administration of justice into disrepute in the eyes of the reasonable man, dispassionate and fully apprised of the circumstances of the case?". They look at a few different factors, including; which rights were violated (how is not important) and how serious are these violations, and what the effect of excluding the evidence would be (would this bring the court into disrepute?), but, most importantly, they look at how the evidence affects the fairness of the trial. If they find that it would make the trial unfair, or it was too much of a violation, then they will exclude the evidence, but if they believe that it doesn't meet those requirements or by excluding it would bring them under disrepute, then it is admissible. 

 

Again, I'm not American, so it could be different in the states, but I don't know enough of their laws, nor where to look, to make an informed statement.