March 16, 2010

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Popular social-networking sites have attracted
millions of users -- and the feds.

Law enforcement agents are signing on to Facebook, MySpace,
LinkedIn and Twitter, going undercover to communicate with suspects
and gather information.

An internal Justice Department document, obtained in a Freedom
of Information Act lawsuit, describes the value of social
networking sites to government investigators.

But civil liberties attorney Marcia Hoffman says there's not
much about accountability and responsible use.

The Justice Department says the actions are legal and there are
internal rules, though officials would not say what the rules are.

But investigators are essentially using the same tactic that got
a a Missouri woman charged with computer fraud for creating a fake
MySpace account in a cyber-snooping case.