FBI wants tool for ‘constant monitoring’ of social media

The FBI plans to monitor social media more intensively. To do this, a tool must be created for which the organization is looking for a developer. The intention is to make it easier to keep an eye on terrorists and criminals.

On a US government website, there is a so-called request for proposal to which developers can respond if they want to accept the project. This is a so-called early alerting tool for social media, whereby the FBI receives notifications of messages that meet predefined criteria; this may, for example, concern a location, subject, photo or other characteristics in which the government organization is interested, for example because there is a link with an investigation into criminal or terrorist activities.

The intention is therefore that the tool will constantly monitor social media websites. However, the way the tool is described raises questions about the privacy of ordinary citizens, and how their data is kept. Users of the tool should also be able to view historical data, which indicates that data about social media posts is being stored.

Interested developers have until July 19 to respond if they have questions for the FBI. They receive their answers a week later, and then the proposal must reach the desk of the government organization by 8 August at the latest.