Documents reveal LAPD tracks individuals’ social media handles, email accounts

According to internal documents obtained by a nonprofit, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) may collect social media and email information from every civilian it interviews. News of the policy prompted backlash from civil rights advocates, who say the tactic promotes unchecked surveillance and threatens First Amendment rights.

Key Players

The LAPD is the municipal police department of Los Angeles. Officers are instructed to collect social media data during civilian stops, regardless of whether the people stopped are arrested or accused of a crime. 

The Brennan Center for Justice (BCJ), named for the late Supreme Court Justice William Brennan, is a nonpartisan, nonprofit law and policy organization that defends democracy, advocates for criminal justice reform, and champions rights to Free Speech, privacy, and government transparency. The organization published over 6,000 pages of documents revealing that the LAPD authorizes officers to collect social media information during civilian stops, resulting in extensive surveillance of people’s accounts.

Further Details

In 2015, the department added “social media accounts” under the field interview cards it uses to document people it has stopped or questioned during patrols, according to KCRW. 

LAPD officers are allowed, but not required, to enter interview cards for anyone with whom they come into contact. The cards report biographical information, such as names, addresses, and phone numbers, “to help our officers memorialize what was said in field interviews and stay in contact with people who can help us solve crimes,” according to a statement from the LAPD. 

On the cards, social media accounts fall under the “additional information” section, per a newly disclosed memo circulated by former LAPD chief Charlie Beck. 

“Similar to a nickname or an alias, a person’s online persona… can be highly beneficial to investigations,” Beck wrote. The policy specifically instructs officers to record a civilian’s email, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and other social media accounts.

In a memo dated July 22, 2020, police Chief Michel Moore told employees it was critical to collect field interview data for “investigations, arrests, and prosecutions,” warning that supervisors would review the cards to ensure they were complete.

The interview cards have proved controversial in the past. In 2020, prosecutors charged six LAPD officers with falsifying information on the cards, accusing them of erroneously labeling civilians as gang members after stopping them. 

Outcome

BCJ releases over 6,000 records related to interview cards 

On Sept. 8, 2021, BCJ published over 6,000 pages of documents it received as part of a public records request seeking information about the department’s policies on social media monitoring. According to BCJ, police departments in 40 other cities do not use their interview cards to collect social media information, though many have not publicly disclosed copies of their cards. The organization also obtained records about LAPD’s social media surveillance technologies.

As BCJ explained, LAPD loads data into Palantir, a data analytics and surveillance system that allows officers to see a person of interest’s movements, personal relationships, DMV records, employment data, arrest records, and data from license plate readers. 

“There are real dangers about police having all of this social media identifying information at their fingertips,” Rachel Levinson-Waldman, deputy director of BCJ’s Liberty and National Security program, told The Guardian.

LAPD responds to mass record release

On Sept. 7, 2021, LAPD told The Guardian that the field interview policy was “being updated,” but did not offer further details.

In a letter responding to a records request from BCJ, LAPD said it does not track what officers monitor on social media, nor has it conducted audits of the department’s use of social media. The department urged that its policies respect citizens’ right to privacy in a statement issued Sept. 9, 2021.

“Social media handles can be critical pieces of contact information, along with phone numbers and email addresses, because people communicate through social media now just as frequently as they do through calls, texts or emails,” the department wrote. “The LAPD is here to keep Angelenos safe, and we are committed to protecting their privacy rights as we confront that challenge every day.”

Advocates voice concern about the widespread gathering of personal information

On Sept. 15, 2021, the Los Angeles Times reported that four LAPD officers were suspected of putting false gang information on interview cards. Samantha Fiedler, one of the officers under investigation, said the department operated with an unspoken quota system that put pressure on officers to identify gang members regularly. 

According to The Guardian, the practice has disproportionately targeted Black and Latino residents. Levinson-Waldman added that it was troubling that a department under scrutiny for racial profiling is also collecting social media account information on a broad scale.

“This is like stop and frisk,” Hamid Khan of the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition said of the cards, according to The Guardian. “And this is happening with the clear goal of surveillance.”

Leaked records reveal LAPD invested in new software to surveil social media 

LAPD will now use a social media surveillance program, Media Sonar, to identify connections among people and build individual profiles, The Guardian reported.

According to a presentation obtained by BCJ, the platform will give officers “a full digital snapshot of an individual’s online presence, including all related personas and connections.” Officers can search keywords and hashtags, monitor dark web forums, and establish automated threat alerts. The tool utilizes more than 300 data sources with 2 billion records.

Media Sonar’s pitch suggested that the department needs significant safeguards to ensure that keyword searches not disparately target marginalized communities and check to ensure the data is accurate, Levinson-Waldman told The Guardian.

Grant application records show the department requested federal funding for Media Sonar for “terrorism prevention,” but some advocates fear it will be used against protesters. 

Published March 10, 2021, a city council report surveying the LAPD’s response to Black Lives Matter protests recommended the department purchase software to analyze social media content.

“There is a long history of law enforcement using surveillance, whether in-person or through digital technologies to attack Black and Latino movements fighting for racial justice,” Jacinta González, an organizer with advocacy group Mijente, told The Guardian.

Reportedly, neither Media Sonar nor LAPD responded to The Guardian’s request for comment.