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    AdamJohnsonNYCAndy Cush
    10/07/14 1:19pm

    This is just a cut-rate version of something governments, PR firms, and the US military has been doing for years and its surprising how little people actually know about it. It's called "Persona management" software. Here's a primer if interested:

    1) A March 2011 report in the Guardian - as well as parallel disclosures by Wikileaks and Anonymous and others- revealed the US Military manages tens of thousands of "sock puppet" social media accounts (or "Persona" as their technically known) to "influence public opinion abroad". These are entire networks of fake people with entirely "real" online identities.

    2) It's unclear if the DEA employs this technology but the EFF suspects the DHS and FBI do.

    3) This goes along way to explaining why study after study continually shows roughly 10% of all Twitter and Facebook accounts were fictional. Some are lazy spambots like the ones that spam Gawker comment section or have an egg for an Avatar, but many are much, much more complex than most people know.

    4) These are highly sophisticated, entirely realistic online profiles, complete with multiple social media accounts, online comments, and - as defense contractor HB Gary puts it in their email exchange with the Air Force when pitching "Level 3" persona (their most advanced and most expensive option:

    "Level 3 Character: The most detailed character. These personas are required to conduct human-to-human direct contact likely in-person to satisfy some more advanced exercise requirements. This character must look, smell, and feel 100% real at the most detailed level. This character will need to be associated with a real company, hold a real position with that company and have all the technical and business artifacts associated with the position and organization. The trick here is while the persona needs to be real, the actual person may not be working in this role 100% of the time."

    That's correct, this service is so involved that if the client pays enough money they can actually produce a real person. At least according to HB Gary.

    5) For example, via HB Gary's demo to the Air Force in 2010. Meet Holly Webber:

      —-

      Turns out she was actually a digital manipulation on an existing Maxim model.

      6) As The Guardian's Ian Cobain explained in 2011 re: the military's use of Persona:

      ...[E]ach fake online persona must have a convincing background, history and supporting details, and that up to 50 US-based controllers should be able to operate false identities from their workstations "without fear of being discovered by sophisticated adversaries".

      7) An early 2010 contract for "Persona Managment Software" by the Air Force can be read here here (though the domain has sinced been scrubbed, Raw Story managed to grab a PDF).

      8) IBM's 2009 patent here.

      9) If you're interested read more from this Daily Kos article.

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        gorkamorka41782AdamJohnsonNYC
        10/07/14 1:39pm

        wow...

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        AdamJohnsonNYCgorkamorka41782
        10/07/14 1:44pm

        I think fucking "wow" is right. Some suspect HB Gary was exaggerating about their capacity but I have yet to see any reason why one should believe that. Japan can create entirely fake pop stars as earlier as 2010.

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        Why couldn't a half-way decent persona software create a whole network of profiles? The only reason we know about this one is because the DEA needed, by the nature of the sting, a real person with IRL contacts and connections.

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      ASnowdenofYesteryearAndy Cush
      10/07/14 12:33pm

      This is despicable. The really sad thing is I am not surprised.

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        HypnoCatAndy Cush
        10/07/14 12:39pm

        Could a lawsuit be mounted on behalf of the children? Certainly if I were the mother of that niece, I'd be beyond livid.

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          IAMBlastedBiggsLostBurnerAndy Cush
          10/07/14 12:34pm

          "In a court filing, a U.S. attorney acknowledges that, unbeknownst to Arquiett, Sinnigen created the fake Facebook account, posed as her, posted photos, sent a friend request to a fugitive, accepted other friend requests, and used the account "for a legitimate law enforcement purpose."

          This goes FAR beyond the 'implicit consent' she supposedly gave, which is a bullshit explanation anyway.

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            Jerry-NetherlandAndy Cush
            10/07/14 5:31pm

            Considering the degree of Facebook's cooperation into NSA's warrantless surveillance (without informing subscribers), I wouldn't have any confidence in Facebook's adherence to their "customer protection policy." They let this happen and won't spend a dime to defend this woman against the DEA. (Also, at her age, DEA should be respecting her attempts to go straight post-wild youth, rather than seeking to entrap her - when she seems to be living a clean life).

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              MoneySwearsAndy Cush
              10/07/14 12:38pm

              This would presumably fall under "civil identity forfeiture," which John Oliver didn't cover on Sunday.

              At any rate, friend request sent.

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                EasttoMidwestAndy Cush
                10/07/14 1:05pm

                Lawyer types — how does this square with rules regarding informants? Aren't they effectively forcing her into that role (or at least her identity) with her consent?

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                  SillyMeAndy Cush
                  10/07/14 12:37pm

                  Please keep an eye on this story as I would love to hear how this is argued in court and what the judgement is.

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