Social Media Firms 'Undermine' Police Investigating Terrorism
Britain's most senior counter-terror police officer has warned that social media firms are putting lives at risk by refusing to co-operate with investigations into terrorist activity. Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley said some companies were designing products in such a way that they are useless to police conducting covert surveillance operations.
Companies are adopting a strategy of refusing to provide detectives with online data of terrorist suspects and some inform suspects they are under police surveillance, he claimed.
In a speech at the Royal United Services Institute, Mr Rowley said advances in technology were creating surveillance "blind spots" making it harder to arrest suspects.
"We've had terrorist cases in that last year where digital surveillance gaps have meant that as the plot has developed we've been unsighted on exact details of what they're planning," he said.
"Criminals and terrorists are better educated and informed as to where our blind spots are and they are therefore better able to operate safely.
"Some social media companies refuse to assist and for some this is part of their strategy…they design their products in full recognition they'll be unable to help us. Some simply undermine us by adopting a policy that if they supply data to us they'll tell the subject they've done that. That's not desperately helpful to covert operations."
Mr Rowley warned that the use of encryption by cybercriminals is increasingly posing a challenge for police investigations.
"We've had occasions where we've had to prolong dangerous operations and delay arrests until we can confidently obtain evidence because encryption has been slowing our progress," he said.
"That delay makes us all very nervous. If we jump too early without enough evidence we have people in custody for few days and they're back on the streets better informed of what we know about them. If we run it too late and the consequences are potentially awful."
Mr Rowley added that social media was an "immature business sector" and that the way some companies behave would not be tolerated in other sectors.
Sky: http://bit.ly/1WIsnPC
