A few days after the Capitol insurrection last January, the FBI got two tips identifying an Ohio man named Walter Messer as a participant, and both cited his social media posts about being there. To verify those tips, the FBI turned to three companies that held a large amount of damning evidence against Messer, simply as a result of his normal use of their services: AT&T, Facebook, and Google.
AT&T gave the FBI Messers telephone number and a list of cell sites he used, including one that covered the US Capitol building at the time of the insurrection, per the criminal complaint against Messer. Facebook told the FBI that the phone number provided by AT&T was linked to Messers Facebook account, where he posted several selfies from inside the Capitol during the riot.
Google gave the FBI precise location data showing Messers journey from Ohio to DC and back again between January 5 and 7, as well as his location on the afternoon of January 6 as he wandered around and ultimately inside the Capitol building. The complaint also lists videos of the riot posted on Messers YouTube channel, Messers YouTube searches, internet searches, and emails from his Gmail account all used to help build a case against him.
Messer was arrested in late July. He has pleaded not guilty to charges including trespassing and violent entry on Capitol grounds.
This case is just a small part of whats become one of the largest investigations in FBI history, as agents and other law enforcement officers scramble to identify hundreds, if not thousands, of people who invaded the Capitol on January 6 in an unprecedented attempt to stop the democratic transfer of power.
A year later and with more than 700 people charged, we now have a look at how the law enforcement agency handles such an enormous task (or at least, as much as theyre willing to reveal to the public). Rather than revealing the breadth of the FBIs domestic surveillance capabilities, the majority of cases show the power of the tech industry to collect and collate vast amounts of data on its users and their obligation to share that data with law enforcement when asked.
Case files on the hundreds of people arrested so far show a heavy reliance on the vast stores of data obtained from companies like Facebook and Google. Many defendants were identified simply by getting tips from the public. The FBI used its various social media accounts and a section of its website dedicated to the investigation to call for tips. The agency has received more than 200,000 of them, supplied by everyone from close family members to complete strangers. In some cases, amateur sleuths and crowdsourced investigations yielded better results faster than the professionals.
Even as the insurrection unfolded, it was apparent that there would be plenty of evidence for investigators to find if they wanted to pursue cases against the rioters. In fact, the rioters generated so much evidence that the Department of Justice has paid more than $6 million to build a database of it to provide to defendants attorneys as the cases wind their way through the legal system.
I dont think we can conclusively say that the social media evidence was the only thing that got them caught, but an element of social media evidence was involved, Jon Lewis, research fellow at George Washington Universitys Program on Extremism, told Recode. He added that social media evidence has played a role in about 75 percent of cases so far.
Its now clear that the FBI either failed to recognize or neglected to act upon a threat that should have been hard to miss, if the agency had been thoroughly monitoring social media in the days leading up to the attack.
As the FBIs investigation ramped up in the days and weeks following January 6, the agency found itself with images of thousands of potential suspects. To put names to faces, it appealed to the public for help, which has been quite effective. The FBIs wanted posters have led to some of those 200,000 tips, while many others came from people who saw alleged participants own social media posts, read local media interviews with people who freely admitted to breaching the Capitol building, or even gotten confessions from matches on dating apps (this has happened at least twice on Bumble).
At the same time, loosely organized groups of online amateur sleuths, like the Sedition Hunters, have amassed their own pool of suspects. Sometimes, the sleuths find clearer photos than what the FBI has. Theyve also given them clever hashtags #BloatedCuomo and #ZZTopPB, for instance to help their photos circulate and be more memorable.
In some ways, they kicked the FBIs butt in the early days in terms of using these investigative techniques and open source intelligence to figure out who a lot of these individuals were, said Ryan Reilly, senior justice reporter at HuffPost, who has been tracking the Sedition Hunters efforts for an upcoming book.
There is at least one case of the Sedition Hunters doing a better job of identifying a suspect than the FBI did. The FBI falsely identified an Alaska woman as a person who helped steal a laptop from House Speaker Nancy Pelosis office. Agents went so far as to break down the womans door and search her home last spring. But looking through Facebook and using publicly available facial recognition tools, online sleuths were able to identify another woman, Maryann Mooney-Rondon, as the suspect. They found photos of Mooney-Rondon wearing the same jewelry as the woman in the video inside the Capitol building. She and her son Rafael Rondon were arrested in October and pleaded not guilty to charges including theft of government property and trespassing.
The FBI might not have to rely so heavily on others to make these initial identifications if the alleged participants were on their radar in the first place. Despite having months, if not years, to recognize the growing threat of QAnon conspiracy theorists, white supremacists, and right-wing extremists, including the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers, and the Three Percenters, the FBI failed to realize the potential for violence those groups could do.
They also didnt seem to take seriously the widely publicized Stop the Steal rally that immediately preceded the insurrection and prompted thousands to march to the Capitol in an attempt to stop Joe Biden from becoming president. There was at least one FBI informant in the crowd, and reports about what law enforcement knew and when have varied. But many see January 6 as a fundamental failure to either collect or correctly assess intelligence (if not both), given the ultimate result.
The FBI and Justice Department have long deprioritized white supremacist and far-right militant violence in their domestic terrorism program, Michael German, a former FBI agent and current fellow with the Brennan Center for Justices liberty and national security program, told Recode. So it would seem that this was the prime opportunity for the FBI to engage. But they chose not to.
Contrast this apparent lack of action with reports of law enforcements close monitoring and infiltration of groups associated with left-leaning movements, such as in Portland, Oregon. The New York Times recently reported that activists involved in Portland protests against police violence were subject to extensive surveillance operations in the summer of 2020. The FBI is also famous for decades of history surveilling Black activists, and there are countless reports of law enforcement monitoring of Muslim communities for years following 9/11.
So much of the organizing went on in places that the FBI would never be allowed to surveil (particularly under a Trump presidency), explained Joseph Brown, a professor of political science at University of Massachusetts Boston. The agencys surveillance capabilities are very good, but they could never have been employed fully in this case.
German, the former FBI agent, says he finds it troubling that so many allegedly violent participants remain unidentified. He expected the agency to make it a priority to find and arrest the most dangerous offenders as soon as possible. Instead, it appears that the FBI has gone after the low-hanging fruit the people who essentially told on themselves, as Lewis, the extremism researcher, noted.
The numbers back up these claims. Of the more than 725 people who have been arrested for Capitol riot-related crimes, less than a third of them have been charged with assaulting or resisting law enforcement officers, and only 75 people have been charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury to an officer. At least 350 people the FBI suspects committed violent acts on Capitol grounds remain unidentified, though its likely this list will grow, with as many as 2,000 people expected to be charged by the time the investigation concludes. Meanwhile, the Sedition Hunters have listed hundreds more in their own unofficial database.
Reading through the cases of the people who have been charged paints a picture of just how extensively various companies track us, and how much more of our data a company like Google has than the actual government apparently does. The January 6 investigation is not an isolated example of this, although it makes for a pretty good one, given its scale, notoriety, and just how much digital evidence was left by so many people.
Social media has become a place where investigators, more and more often, are getting formally trained to look for evidence on a regular basis, said Adam Wandt, professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and cybercrime investigations expert.
While those accused of taking part in the riot posted plenty of evidence on various platforms, tracking that goes on underneath the surface can also be used against them in the coming months and years. Though controversial, law enforcement has used some of these methods of tracking and data collection in the Capitol insurrection investigation.
For example, the FBI admits to using commercial facial recognition technology systems, including Vigilant Solutions and Clearview AI, which scrape the internet for photos, rather than relying on license photos and mugshots. Stephen Chase Randolph was identified by using an open source facial recognition tool that matched a photo of him on his girlfriends Instagram page. Randolph is accused of assaulting a police officer and rendering her unconscious. He has pleaded not guilty.
Geofence warrants are another tool that has drawn concern among privacy and civil rights groups. Also known as reverse search warrants, these orders require companies to provide all the accounts that were in a certain area at a certain time, in the hope that a suspect can be identified within that group. That means the devices of perfectly innocent people might be caught in, essentially, a digital dragnet. Law enforcement agencies are using them more and more with little oversight. Documents in multiple January 6 cases say the FBI has and is using geofence data of all devices on the Capitol grounds during the insurrection. Anyone inside the Capitol building who had an Android phone turned on or used a Google application during the riot was likely caught in the geofence warrant.
This seems to be how the agency found Amy Schubert. After receiving a tip that a woman wearing a jacket with a Joliet, Illinois, unions logo on it could be seen in a YouTube video of the insurrection, the FBI searched its geofence database for Google accounts that had a Joliet area code. There were six. Two of those belonged to women, and a quick search revealed Schuberts Facebook page, which featured a photo of a woman who looked just like the woman in the video. Investigators got a search warrant for Schuberts Google account and found that her phone was inside the Capitol building on January 6 and that it took several photos and videos while there. Some of them showed her husband, John. He was also arrested. Both Schuberts pleaded guilty to demonstrating in a Capitol building in December.
Thats not to say that the Schuberts and other Capitol rioters wouldnt have been caught if not for Google; the FBI may have other tools at its disposal it could have used to identify and catch them. But Google certainly seems to be the simplest, and bound by the fewest legal restrictions when it comes to collecting and keeping so much data on so many people unlike the government, which has to get warrants and show cause to monitor American citizens this way. That means a bunch of private businesses are almost certainly tracking you right now. Unless it has a good reason to do so, the government probably isnt.
While tech companies have helped the FBI find the people who didnt make much or enough of an effort to hide their actions, one of the most potentially dangerous suspects remains at large: The person who placed pipe bombs outside the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee headquarters the night before the insurrection has yet to be identified. The FBI is offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest, and has released surveillance videos and photos of the suspect with their face obscured, a map of their likely route, and detailed information about the shoes they were wearing.
The FBI also says its interviewed hundreds of people, collected tens of thousands of video files, and followed up on more than 300 tips trying to find the pipe bomber, yet they remain unknown and on the loose as far as we know. The Sedition Hunters have even dedicated a section of their site to them. But without a preponderance of social media evidence and mobile device data, it seems to be a lot harder for the FBI to identify people who make efforts to stay hidden.
Others have been less careful. In the weeks after the Capitol riot, Walter Messer, the Ohio man, did some internet sleuthing of his own, according to the web search history the FBI obtained from Google. He looked up news articles about Capitol arrests, FBI billboards, and Brian Sicknick, a Capitol Police officer who died shortly after the riot. Messer also wanted to know what the penalties were for violating federal trespassing laws. A few months later, when he was charged with breaking federal trespassing laws, these searches were used as probable cause to arrest him.
Read the original post:
- Is Google Advertising Revenue 70%, 80%, Or 90% Of Alphabets Total Revenue? - Forbes [Last Updated On: December 30th, 2019] [Originally Added On: December 30th, 2019]
- Google My Business Photos Being Added To Google Posts Without Option To Delete - Search Engine Roundtable [Last Updated On: December 30th, 2019] [Originally Added On: December 30th, 2019]
- Even amid the affluence of tech capital in Silicon Valley, local news struggles - CNBC [Last Updated On: December 30th, 2019] [Originally Added On: December 30th, 2019]
- Where in the world was Santa? It depended on which online tracker you were following - The Boston Globe [Last Updated On: December 30th, 2019] [Originally Added On: December 30th, 2019]
- Huawei, Facebook, and Oracle Put Pressure on Google - Market Realist [Last Updated On: December 30th, 2019] [Originally Added On: December 30th, 2019]
- Huawei and Google Diverge in Their Treatment of ToTok - Market Realist [Last Updated On: December 30th, 2019] [Originally Added On: December 30th, 2019]
- Google Maps: Aftermath of plane crash in Somalia discovered - what happened? - Express [Last Updated On: December 30th, 2019] [Originally Added On: December 30th, 2019]
- Why Apple, Google, and other big tech companies create their own fonts - Mashable [Last Updated On: December 30th, 2019] [Originally Added On: December 30th, 2019]
- ProBeat: Google only updated Android distribution data once in 2019 - VentureBeat [Last Updated On: December 30th, 2019] [Originally Added On: December 30th, 2019]
- 10 things to try with your new Google Nest smart speaker - VentureBeat [Last Updated On: December 30th, 2019] [Originally Added On: December 30th, 2019]
- Google workers exposed to chemical that causes birth defects - City A.M. [Last Updated On: December 30th, 2019] [Originally Added On: December 30th, 2019]
- The most popular products of 2019, according to Google - TODAY [Last Updated On: December 30th, 2019] [Originally Added On: December 30th, 2019]
- Google Chromes five security features that every user should know - Hindustan Times [Last Updated On: December 30th, 2019] [Originally Added On: December 30th, 2019]
- Googles YouTube Goes To War With Bitcoin And Crypto [Updated] - Forbes [Last Updated On: December 30th, 2019] [Originally Added On: December 30th, 2019]
- Google is poised to make another blitz at CES 2020 - CNET [Last Updated On: December 30th, 2019] [Originally Added On: December 30th, 2019]
- These Were The Top Google Searches And Trends Of 2019 - Forbes [Last Updated On: December 30th, 2019] [Originally Added On: December 30th, 2019]
- Google Search now lets you add movies and shows to a 'Watchlist' - Engadget [Last Updated On: December 30th, 2019] [Originally Added On: December 30th, 2019]
- 31-year-old Google executive says reading this one book has had a huge influence on her career - CNBC [Last Updated On: December 30th, 2019] [Originally Added On: December 30th, 2019]
- Obama praises book that slams his White House for its Google relationship - Mashable [Last Updated On: December 30th, 2019] [Originally Added On: December 30th, 2019]
- Why Google was the most important brand marketer of the 2010s - Fast Company [Last Updated On: December 30th, 2019] [Originally Added On: December 30th, 2019]
- Amazon and Facebook Are the Most 'Evil' Tech Companies, According to Experts. Google Isn't Far Behind - Inc. [Last Updated On: January 18th, 2020] [Originally Added On: January 18th, 2020]
- Google Rich Results testing tool now reports on unloadable embedded resources - Search Engine Land [Last Updated On: January 18th, 2020] [Originally Added On: January 18th, 2020]
- Google Assistant routines haven't worked on Android Auto for over a year, still no fix in sight (Update: Google acknowledges) - Android Police [Last Updated On: January 18th, 2020] [Originally Added On: January 18th, 2020]
- Jussie Smollett is probably toast now that Google is handing his data to the special prosecutor - Washington Examiner [Last Updated On: January 18th, 2020] [Originally Added On: January 18th, 2020]
- Americans trust Amazon and Google more than the police or the government - MarketWatch [Last Updated On: January 18th, 2020] [Originally Added On: January 18th, 2020]
- Using Google Authenticator? Here's why you should get rid of it - ZDNet [Last Updated On: January 18th, 2020] [Originally Added On: January 18th, 2020]
- Googles hidden AR tool will blow your mind - Creative Bloq [Last Updated On: January 18th, 2020] [Originally Added On: January 18th, 2020]
- Kids, Want to Win a $30,000 Scholarship and Show Your Art to Billions? Googles Annual Doodle Contest Is Now Open - artnet News [Last Updated On: January 18th, 2020] [Originally Added On: January 18th, 2020]
- 1 Reason 2020 Will Be a Big Year for Google and Facebook - The Motley Fool [Last Updated On: January 18th, 2020] [Originally Added On: January 18th, 2020]
- Google Health Exec Defends Controversial Partnership With Ascension: Were Super Proud Of It - Forbes [Last Updated On: January 18th, 2020] [Originally Added On: January 18th, 2020]
- Labs arrive in Google app to let you experiment with features like pinch-to-zoom - 9to5Google [Last Updated On: January 18th, 2020] [Originally Added On: January 18th, 2020]
- Sorry, Alexa and Siri, but only Google Home can do these 5 things - CNET [Last Updated On: January 18th, 2020] [Originally Added On: January 18th, 2020]
- Kittle photobombed by The Rock in roster Google search - NBCSports.com [Last Updated On: January 18th, 2020] [Originally Added On: January 18th, 2020]
- This Is How Your iPhone Is A Cool New Way To Access Google - Forbes [Last Updated On: January 18th, 2020] [Originally Added On: January 18th, 2020]
- Googles Takeover of Fitbit Faces Another Regulatory Hurdle - Motley Fool [Last Updated On: January 18th, 2020] [Originally Added On: January 18th, 2020]
- Google Health VP on Ascension partnership: 'The press has made this into something it's not' - Healthcare IT News [Last Updated On: January 18th, 2020] [Originally Added On: January 18th, 2020]
- Google Maps keeps a detailed record of everywhere you go here's how to stop it - CNBC [Last Updated On: January 18th, 2020] [Originally Added On: January 18th, 2020]
- Will Googles more-efficient Reformer mitigate or accelerate the arms race in AI? - ZDNet [Last Updated On: January 18th, 2020] [Originally Added On: January 18th, 2020]
- Rachel Bovard: Congress has a role to play in regulating Google - Home - WSFX [Last Updated On: January 18th, 2020] [Originally Added On: January 18th, 2020]
- Why Google added little logos next to search results this week - CNBC [Last Updated On: January 18th, 2020] [Originally Added On: January 18th, 2020]
- Report: Google wants to bring the Steam game store to Chrome OS? - Ars Technica [Last Updated On: January 18th, 2020] [Originally Added On: January 18th, 2020]
- BT partners with Google to bundle free Stadia with broadband deals in the UK - The Verge [Last Updated On: January 18th, 2020] [Originally Added On: January 18th, 2020]
- Google Play [Last Updated On: January 18th, 2020] [Originally Added On: January 18th, 2020]
- Google Photos app for Android will soon phase out the hamburger menu - GSMArena.com news - GSMArena.com [Last Updated On: March 5th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 5th, 2020]
- What Is Google Coral And Do You Need It? - Lifehacker Australia [Last Updated On: March 5th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 5th, 2020]
- Google and Amazon limit employees travel because of coronavirus fears - The Verge [Last Updated On: March 5th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 5th, 2020]
- Google, Toyota Tsusho invest in WhereIsMyTransport to map transport in emerging cities - TechCrunch [Last Updated On: March 5th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 5th, 2020]
- This Is Huaweis Alarming New Surprise For Google: Heres Why You Should Be Concerned - Forbes [Last Updated On: March 5th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 5th, 2020]
- Google and Microsoft offer free teleconferencing tools to combat coronavirus - TechRadar [Last Updated On: March 5th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 5th, 2020]
- Google bans on-site job interviews for the foreseeable future due to coronavirus - The Verge [Last Updated On: March 5th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 5th, 2020]
- AWS to double sales droids as Google, Microsoft's growing clouds threaten to gobble larger slices of Bezos' pie - The Register [Last Updated On: March 5th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 5th, 2020]
- Google's Exposure To Travel Will Impact Revenue, BofA Says - Benzinga [Last Updated On: March 5th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 5th, 2020]
- Google Cloud goes after the telco business with Anthos for Telecom and its Global Mobile Edge Cloud - TechCrunch [Last Updated On: March 5th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 5th, 2020]
- Apple, Microsoft, Google look to move production away from China. That's not going to be easy - CNBC [Last Updated On: March 5th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 5th, 2020]
- Google will lose its John Legend Google Assistant voice on March 23rd - The Verge [Last Updated On: March 5th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 5th, 2020]
- Google and Microsoft are giving away enterprise conferencing tools due to coronavirus - The Verge [Last Updated On: March 5th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 5th, 2020]
- Google Stadia now supports 4K streaming on the web - The Verge [Last Updated On: March 5th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 5th, 2020]
- Star Engineer Who Crossed Google Is Ordered to Pay $179 Million to Company - The New York Times [Last Updated On: March 5th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 5th, 2020]
- Why companies like Microsoft and Google are betting big on Africa - CNBC [Last Updated On: March 8th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 8th, 2020]
- Google Announces A Coronavirus Incentive For G SuiteAnd Other Small Business Tech News - Forbes [Last Updated On: March 8th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 8th, 2020]
- Microsoft, Google, and Twitter Are Telling Employees to Work From Home Because of Coronavirus. Should You? - Inc. [Last Updated On: March 8th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 8th, 2020]
- Facebook, Google among those kicking some cash over to Silicon Valley communities affected by coronavirus cancellations - CNBC [Last Updated On: March 8th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 8th, 2020]
- Google now giving away three months of Stadia access to Chromecast owners - The Verge [Last Updated On: March 8th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 8th, 2020]
- Google location data turned a random biker into a burglary suspect - The Verge [Last Updated On: March 8th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 8th, 2020]
- Apple, Google and others partner with Ad Council and US govt to expand coronavirus messaging - The Drum [Last Updated On: March 30th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 30th, 2020]
- Google Has No Plans To Postpone Killing Third-Party Cookies In Chrome - AdExchanger [Last Updated On: March 30th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 30th, 2020]
- Why Zoom is winning so much hype over Microsoft and Google - Business Insider [Last Updated On: March 30th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 30th, 2020]
- Logged On From the Laundry Room: How the C.E.O.s of Google, Pfizer and Slack Work From Home - The New York Times [Last Updated On: March 30th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 30th, 2020]
- Google cancels its infamous April Fools jokes this year - The Verge [Last Updated On: March 30th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 30th, 2020]
- Google Tests Audience Buying In ADH, A Big Step From Analytics To Activation - AdExchanger [Last Updated On: March 30th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 30th, 2020]
- Googles new Pixel Buds could hit spring release date, as they may have just hit the FCC - The Verge [Last Updated On: March 30th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 30th, 2020]
- Google Removes Infowars Android App From Online Store Over Coronavirus Misinformation - Variety [Last Updated On: March 30th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 30th, 2020]
- Cruising Through South Central Los Angeles With Google Street View : The Picture Show - NPR [Last Updated On: March 30th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 30th, 2020]
- Google ups Duo group calling limit from eight to twelve - The Verge [Last Updated On: March 30th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 30th, 2020]
- Outside China, Android isnt Android without Google - The Verge [Last Updated On: March 30th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 30th, 2020]
- Google has banned the Infowars Android app over false coronavirus claims - The Verge [Last Updated On: March 30th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 30th, 2020]
- My top 3 Google Home pet peeves and how to fix them - CNET [Last Updated On: March 30th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 30th, 2020]
- Google Unveiled a Massive Stimulus Program of Its Own - Inc. [Last Updated On: March 30th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 30th, 2020]
- Facebook, Google and Twitter Struggle to Handle Novembers Election - The New York Times [Last Updated On: March 30th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 30th, 2020]
- Test and trace with Apple and Google - TechCrunch [Last Updated On: March 30th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 30th, 2020]