There has been a sharp increase in the number of attempts by gardaí to obtain social media users’ private information over the last two years.
Attempts by Irish authorities to obtain user information from Meta, which owns the most popular social media platforms in Ireland, have increased from an average of five a month to 21 a month since the second half of 2020.
The exact reason behind the increase is unclear but the figures demonstrate An Garda Síochána is increasingly relying on private social media to investigate and prosecute serious crimes.
Social media data has become an important part of investigators’ tool kits in recent years. Data obtained from social media companies can provide gardaí with a wealth of information including email addresses, phone numbers, credit card details and IP addresses.
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Garda sources said cases involving requests for social media data in recent years have included drugs cases, child sex abuse cases and death threats, including threats against public figures.
The increase in data requests lines up with the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, but it is not known if to what extent the two are connected.
While most categories of crime decreased during periods of restrictions, gardaí were actively monitoring social media for details about protests that had the potential to turn violent during the pandemic. Neither Meta or An Garda Síochána commented on the increase in requests.
Between July 2020 and last December, Irish authorities made 762 requests for user data from Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, up from 196 in the previous 18-month period.
Some 80 per cent of requests related to investigations. The rest related to “emergency disclosures” where gardaí requested information on an urgent basis in situations where they believed there was an immediate threat to life, such as cases of child abduction or threatened self-harm.
Meta says it divulges data to law enforcement if they meet certain conditions. The data shows it has complied with between 57 and 82 per cent of data requests from the Garda in recent years. According to its policies, Meta will push back on data requests that are legally deficient or overly broad.
