Crimson Hexagon - Facebook Surveillance

Crimson Hexagon, a Boston data analytics company, raised some eyebrows when it announced that its access to the firehose of user data from Facebook and Instagram had been reinstated—after being suspended and investigated by the social media giant for alleged misuse of data for surveillance purposes.

Crimson boasts of having gathered the largest public repository of social media data... Initially pitched as an antiterrorism tool, software like Crimson’s has spread quickly across all levels of law enforcement, from immigration agencies to police departments. In a March 2017 lawsuit against the Memphis Police Department, the ACLU of Tennessee alleged that the police were using “social media collator” software to spy on local Black Lives Matter protesters in violation of a consent decree.

The ACLU said in a July filing that in addition to tools like Geofeedia and NC4, police officers used a fake Facebook profile to spy on Black activists and “chatter” around protest activities. The police surveillance encompassed “any of the organizations that arose out of Ferguson” around the country, and was shared with police, school officials, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Dept. of Defense, utility companies and FedEx and Autozone.  (Fast Company, August 22, 2018)
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