Skip to main content

Twitter restricts law enforcement fusion centers from accessing bulk user data

Twitter is cutting off law enforcement surveillance hubs, known as “fusion centers,” from accessing a social media monitoring tool that allowed for the monitoring of its user data.

The move comes after the ACLU informed the company that Dataminr (a firm that creates Twitter surveillance tools that can visualize and track trends on the platform) was providing its services to the federally funded hubs.

Recommended Videos

As a result, Dataminr was forced to comply with Twitter’s existing policies prohibiting the use of its data for surveillance. However, it comes as a bit of a surprise that Twitter wasn’t aware of Dataminr’s activities, considering it partly owns the company.

Nonetheless, in a letter to the ACLU, it has now made it clear that Dataminr has terminated access for all fusion center accounts. Additionally, Twitter promises that Dataminr will no longer provide social media surveillance tools to any local, state, or federal government customer.

There are currently 77 fusion centers operating in states across the country. The domestic surveillance hubs participate in information-sharing and analysis as part of a local-state-federal partnership.

The Department of Homeland Security claims fusion centers play a “unique role” in preventing national threats through their data-gathering efforts at the local level. The DHS states the following on its website: “Fusion centers are the primary conduit between frontline personnel, state and local leadership, and the rest of the Homeland Security Enterprise, filling a significant security gap identified by the 9/11 Commission.”

Through a public records request, the ACLU discovered that a Los Angeles area fusion center (JRIC) had access to Dataminr’s Geospatial Analysis Application. The tool allowed the fusion center to search through billions of real-time and historical public tweets. In an email to the LAPD, Dataminr also allegedly highlighted how its products could be used to track protests by drawing from the Twitter “firehose” of public tweets.

In its letter to the ACLU, Twitter claims the only info Dataminr is now permitted to provide to law enforcement and first responders are its breaking news alerts based on public tweets.

“Datatminr’s product does not provide any government customers with their own direct firehose access or features to export data; the ability to search raw historical Tweet archives or to target or profile users; conduct geospatial analysis; or any form of surveillance,” said Dataminr in the letter.

Datamnir’s close relationship with United States law enforcement first came to light in April of this year, when a report by the Intercept claimed the company — along with other developers of social media surveillance tools — had received funds through the CIA’s venture capital firm, In-Q-Tel.

A few months later, in October, Twitter suspended one of those CIA-backed firms’ from accessing its commercial data after the ACLU claimed it was being used by the police to target protesters. In this case, the tool in question was Geofeedia — a social media mapping software that had allegedly been used by law enforcement in Oakland and Baltimore.

In November, Twitter reiterated its commitment to preventing its service being used by developers for surveillance purposes. Twitter allows devs worldwide to access public tweets in real time via its Gnip enterprise data products and its Twitter Public application programming interface (API). The company claimed that devs caught violating its polices could be suspended or have their access to its data products terminated.

Saqib Shah
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Saqib Shah is a Twitter addict and film fan with an obsessive interest in pop culture trends. In his spare time he can be…
How to deactivate your Instagram account (or delete it)
A person holding a phone with the Instagram app open on it.

Oh, social media. Sometimes it’s just too much, folks.

If you’re finding yourself in a position where shutting down your Instagram account for a period of time sounds good, the people at Meta have made it pretty simple to deactivate it. It’s also quite easy to completely delete your Instagram, although we wouldn’t recommend this latter option if you plan on returning to the platform at a later date.

Read more
Bluesky finally adds a feature many had been waiting for
A blue sky with clouds.

Bluesky has been making a lot of progress in recent months by simplifying the process to sign up while at the same time rolling out a steady stream of new features.

As part of those continuing efforts, the social media app has just announced that users can now send direct messages (DMs).

Read more
Reddit just achieved something for the first time in its 20-year history
The Reddit logo.

Reddit’s on a roll. The social media platform has just turned a profit for the first time in its 20-year history, and now boasts a record 97.2 million daily active users, marking a year-over-year increase of 47%. A few times during the quarter, the figure topped 100 million, which Reddit CEO and co-founder Steve Huffman said in a letter to shareholders had been a “long-standing milestone” for the site.

The company, which went public in March, announced the news in its third-quarter earnings results on Tuesday.

Read more