Believe it or not, social media can be used to assist in internal investigations. Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have helped human resource professionals, insurance claims investigators and others when it comes to getting the facts during an investigation.
Evidence Collection
Along with traditional fact-finding techniques, some investigators have already turned to social media as a way to collect evidence to help them crack the case. Posts on someone's Facebook wall or their tweets on Twitter are being used to find out where people are and what activities they participate in. For example, people often post pictures of their adventures, post comments about where they are going, write blog posts about their vacations and so on.
Insurance claims investigators have used YouTube videos and Facebook photos to validate whether or not someone's car was intentionally lit on fire and if a person's house was broken into while they claimed they were on "vacation". Workplace investigators have used Twitter and Facebook to monitor photos and conversations about employee activities while they are on disability or "too sick to come into work". Check-ins on location-based tools such as foursquare and Facebook can also be useful in helping investigators find out where people were during the time span under investigation.
I came across a recent article on Reputation.com, "Social media the latest tool for health care fraud investigators," which discussed some of the ways investigators are using social media to accompany traditional fact-finding methods:
"But disability, medical liability and workers' compensation cases, where more money is involved, often rely on Facebook and Twitter posts to augment the traditional surveillance and field work, Maya said.
He said insurers use posts or tweets in criminal cases to supplement other evidence of fraud. Auto insurers have turned to social media in personal injury cases to deny claims or push for a quick settlement. Maya said he has seen online postings used in medical liability cases where a patient claims to have been injured under a physician's care but isn't actually hurt."
What to Watch Out For
A lot of people have become more protective of their social media profiles, enabling security settings to control who can see their information, conversations, photos, etc. This can made it difficult for investigators to get the information they need. During insurance investigations, the Claims Magazine article "Using Social Media in Claim Investigations," by Wayne Partenheimer points out the fact that:
"Many users grant access to their pages to anyone who asks, but before you go asking a claimant to be your Facebook friend or posting a comment on his blog, make sure you are familiar with the insurance laws in the claimant's state which might prohibit contact with a claimant who is represented by counsel."
Another alternative is one that we saw during the WikiLeaks investigation: subpoenas. Investigators can submit subpoenas to social media sites in order to obtain access to user information. However, you might want to hold onto your hat before you get too excited - the company in charge of the social media site can determine whether or not they wish to fulfill the request. For example, Facebook has a clause on their site that states that if they receive a subpoena, they may release the information that is being sought after if they believe there's good reason to do so.