CNNMoney reports that Facebook has sent a letter to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration demanding that agents stop impersonating users on the social network. "The DEA's deceptive actions... threaten the integrity of our community," Facebook chief security officer Joe Sullivan wrote to DEA head Michele Leonhart. "Using Facebook to impersonate others abuses that trust and makes people feel less safe and secure when using our service."
Facebook's letter comes on the heels of reports that the DEA impersonated a young woman on Facebook to communicate with suspected criminals, and the Department of Justice argued that they had the right to do so. Facebook contends that their terms and Community Standards - which the DEA agent had to acknowledge and agree to when registering for a Facebook account - expressly prohibit the creation and use of fake accounts. "Isn't this the definition of identity theft?" says Privacy researcher Runa Sandvik. The DEA has declined to comment and referred all questions to the Justice Department, which has not returned CNNMoney's calls.
(Score: 2) by Leebert on Wednesday October 22 2014, @08:27PM
The point wasn't whether or not it was a "fake" account. The claim was that it wasn't "identity theft", which I said it actually IS, for a reasonable definition of identity theft. By your logic, if I open up a bunch of accounts and take loans out in your name, it's not identity theft because I'm using a real person's identity to create a bank account?
If your complaint is about the general misuse of the term "theft" in this context, then sure, we're in agreement. I prefer the term "fraud", since "theft" implies physically taking something from someone. But using the term-of-art definition of identity theft, this is identity theft.