>The law enforcement tech in question (Accurint) was not directly used in the hacks.
Ah yes. It was just used to collect "meta-data" not accessible through legal means. Totally harmless.
Ah yes. It was just used to collect "meta-data" not accessible through legal means. Totally harmless.
> Accurint, a product of data brokerage firm LexisNexis Risk Solutions, is advertised to law enforcement agencies as a tool that can quicken investigations and “discover non-obvious connections between people that might not otherwise be known.” Combining databases of public and non-public information, Accurint can provide detailed information about a person, including their phone numbers, relatives and associates, employers and social media profiles associated with their email account.
The existence of similar tools doesn't reduce the abuse the officer committed.
And trained to use this tool? It doesn't take training to type a person's name into a textfield. Try going to Google and typing in a full name and city. Chances are you'll find the address, past addresses, phone numbers and roommates and family members. Probably not for yourself because most people on this site understand tech, but try it for some of your less tech/privacy aware friends.