Social Network Criminal Investigation - Report Example

? SOCIAL NETWORK CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION.  id] [Module and number] [Submitted to] [24-11 INTRODUCTION Ever sincethe advent of information and communications technology the human race and the world around it have revolutionized. Man has begun to look at things with a meaning to them that was absent before the insight facilitated by the information and communications technology. Ever since their advent computing devices slowly integrated themselves into the lives of human beings. This was because they assisted in the accurate and timely execution of many tasks. It was owing to their usability that their use was taken into accordance for every possible usage. As a result of this presently we see information and technology based devices around us everywhere. Human beings cannot execute even a few hours of their lives without the involvement of their personalized high tech devices. Since the use of everything is prone to both use and misuse it is imperative that certain ethical and moral boundaries be marked with respect to actions demonstrating a line between what actions and permissible and which are not. When these demarcations are done officially, they are referred to as laws. Laws govern each and every mode of life. Since information technology and more specifically computing based device are well knit with human daily routines, the use of these devices must also be governed by laws. What Is Law? Officially in the words of the Department of Justice, Canada, law can be quoted as, “Rules made by government are called "laws." Laws are meant to control or change our behaviour and, unlike rules of morality, they are enforced by the courts. If you break a law - whether you like that law or not - you may have to pay a fine, pay for the damage you have done, or go to jail.” (Department of Justice- Canada, 2009) The HISTORY of law dates back to the history of mankind. Ever since man has existed, so have laws. They have evolved with the evolution of man himself. Each law was formulated every time its need would arise. The modern society has its own set of laws that govern it. Though they may not be entirely different from those dating back to a few hundred years they sure have innumerable new additions to them. These new developments have emerged with the evolution of man himself. The present technology prone human society should have in itself a number of laws that govern it. Since the technology based world uses computing devices everywhere it is the need of the hour that the misuse of the same be taken into notice and limited by enforcing relevant laws. The present study is an attempt to enlighten the need for laws with respect to social networks. SOCIAL NETWORKS What are social networks? For a novice it may be really hard to explain what this terminology refers to, however for a technology literate it may be said that, A social Network is a virtual Social structure that is composed of different nodes. These nodes are connected together via a network. The internet is the most widely used network of the current times since it is universally accessible. Thus each computing device may serve as a node when connected to the internet. There are various websites over the internet that offer their web portals as domains upon which each of these nodes can register themselves and maintain their virtual profile. It is then via these personalized profiles that social networks flourish and contacts establish. This entire domain of social networking has a number of pros and cons. Though its pros outnumber the cons associated with it but the pros themselves are immensely grave in nature. Where social networks assist in globalization and make physical boundaries immaterial, they are also responsible for the development and flourishing of a number of criminal activities. These activities often go unnoticed when they are in relation with the very adored social networks and this makes them even more dangerous and harmful. Figure 1: (Levy, 2011) False profiles can very easily with fake names and credentials over social networks. These fake profiles can be used to do fraudulent activities over the internet. Thus social networks have assisted immensely in the breeding of criminal activities over the internet. CONSTRUCTION OF LAWS FOR SOCIAL NETWORKS Policy makers need to capture the intricate understanding of computing devices and social networks if they are to accurately devise policies and laws with respect to them. Computers and every things related to them are logical structures. The logical entities are usually difficult to describe in terms of their scope and effectiveness. Dr. Moor (1985) commented on the perspective in the light of which the computer technology is considered by people or policy makers. To highlight this conceptual ambiguity he has used the example of a program. Mentioning that this entity can be addressed to in both the ways, i.e. it may be taken as a running process that needs a patent or an intellectual property (writing) requiring0020the security of a copyright. This phenomenon is introduced to highlight conceptual vacuum. Conceptual vacuum is related to the basic understanding of the problem itself. Lawmaking cannot be done without understanding major implications of the problem which are in turn narrated by the concepts. Coherent conceptual framework is essential to understand, evaluate and analyze the social, moral and ethical implications of the usage of computer technology and thus social networks in a comprehensive manner. Effectiveness of a policy suggested through that conceptual framework would rely on how well and logically the formulation of conceptual framework is done. The comprehensive implications of e-commerce and social networks like Facebook require formulation of a logical conceptual framework in order to design the rules and regulations for their ethic-bound usage. Policy Vacuum is the terminology used to address the absence of the rules and the laws to govern the usage of computer technology and to limit its unethical usage. Policy vacuum co exists with conceptual vacuum. This problem seems valid in the present times. This is owing to the fact that with the rapid advent and continuous evolvement of new technologies the possibility of newer malicious activities and disadvantages has grown. Cybercrime has proven to be a fairly new addition to the world of crime. This is a very intricate and dangerous domain about which Policy vacuum should not exist at all. The social and ethical implications of the usage of social networks are grave and they should not be left unaddressed. THE SOCIAL NETWORK RELEVANT LAWS OF THE UK Following is an account of the laws promulgated by the UK government that govern any malicious and fraudulent activity over social networks. 1. Malicious Communications Act 1988 (as amended by S.43 of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001, and Communications Act 2003) 2. Protection from Harassment Act 1997 (as amended by S.125 Serious and Organised Crime Act 2005) 3. Computer Misuse Act 1990 4. The Obscene Publications Act 1959 5. Data Protection Act 1998 6. Sexual Offences Act 2003 7. Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 8. Fraud Act 2006 9. Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 10. Crime (international Cooperation) Act 2003 11. Communications Act 2003 Below is a detailed analysis of the laws along with the explanation as to why they are relevant to the criminal activities prevalent over the social networks. Malicious Communications Act 1988 This act governs the punishments targeted over people who deliberately send and deliver letters for the purpose of causing distress and anxiety to others (1988). It clearly covers all electronic communications that may involve the transmitting of any message that may be: Indecent Grossly offensive A threat False information (Malicious act, 1988) The details of the law clearly state that any form of electronic communication shall be subjected to come under it. Thus the communications done via social networks definitely come under this act. Users often abuse others by commenting on their profiles lamely. All such social network users that have intentionally made false profiles and have no other task than to tease others and fraudulently take advantage of novice teenagers, may threat e-commerce related ventures that run their social network arenas for commercial and may intentionally offend other young users since their actual profiles are hidden. Any user intending to do the same intentionally should definitely be punished in accordance with this act. A person, if found guilty of any of the above actions, may be convicted to imprisonment exceeding six months. Instead of the imprisonment a fine equivalent to the level 5 of the standard scale may be imposed. Both the two punishments may be charged. Protection from Harassment Act 1997 This act has been introduced by the British government so as to protect the individuals from becoming subject to harassment or any similar conduct. Fraudulent individuals often make accounts with false details over the social network web portals. Since all the details they have entered are false they cannot be verified for authenticity as per the flexibility of profile making on the Social Networking sites. Before the making of such rules these fraudulent individuals used to become friends with youngsters via interacting on the social media. They would then meet them in person and try to harm them in one way or the other. This harm may continue online in the form of virtual harassment via direct messaging. Thus it had become extremely necessary that such a law should be promulgated. In line with this act, a person guilty of offending some is in fact guilty of an offense. Such a person is liable to be imprisoned for a term not less than six months. The person may also be fined for an amount not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale. Both the charges may also be applied to the offender. Computer Misuse Act 1990 Designed specifically keeping the modern world of computers this act focuses on a number of aspects involving computers. In accordance with this law, a person is thought as being guilty of committing a crime if , “(a) he causes a computer to perform any function with intent to secure access to any program or data held in any computer [F1, or to enable any such access to be secured] ; (b)the access he intends to secure [F2, or to enable to be secured,] is unauthorised; and (c)he knows at the time when he causes the computer to perform the function that that is the case.” (Computer Misuse Act, 1990) A person who commits crime in line with the above mentioned offenses may be imprisoned upto 12 months or may be fined upto a statutory maximum or both. The Obscene Publications Act 1959 This act was made by the UK government in order to monitor the publishing of any obscene material and to thus provide for the protection of literature. This act targets individuals that become the cause of the corruption of people who are likely to get affected if they come across literature that may contain pornographic content. In line with this act any person responsible for the publishing or transmitting of, circulating of or being indulged in any kind of assisting deed for the objectionable material should be considered as being affected by this law. Data Protection Act 1998 This act deals with the issues related to information handling. The act clearly signifies what meanings of ‘Data’ it refers to with respect to both individuals and organizations. Moreover, the law dictates that any individual having found to have altered data without any authority over it, or may have used data for personal use without permission or commit disclosure of data would be subject to punishment under this law. The unauthorized disclosure of data and the disabling of it are also governed by this rule. Subsequent imprisonment or fine or sometimes both may be charged to the individual who has been found to be responsible for the conduction of the offensive acts. Sexual Offences Act 2003 This law governs any act that may be included in the given definition of sexual offense. Social Networks often become homes for individuals who may pose to be very polite and caring to young girls but increased interaction with them demonstrates that they are nothing more than sexual offenders. Among many other real world similar situations the said law may be applied to the social network based criminals as well. Separate imprisonment and fine changes r sometimes both may be applied to individuals responsible for such crimes. Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 Since many of the interactions may become abusive and non-social therefore this law governs all such instances where such activities are noted over the social media. Persons found responsible for the said acts may be imprisoned or fined or may be subjected to both with respect to the extent to which they have committed their crime. Fraud Act 2006 This law enacted by the UK government clearly states that all individuals who may be responsible for the following acts would become subject to being coming under this law: Making a false representation falsely To cause loss to another person, or to intently falsify identity in order to take advantage of certain things. Failure to abide by the law, under any circumstances, may that even be via social networks, results in the entitlement of either being imprisoned, or fined or at times, even both. Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 This act governs a lot of acts related to terrorism and Crime. With respect to social networks, however, that act considers the illegal and unauthorized manipulation, erasing, amending or discarding of any forms of communications data. Thus, any action in line with the above mentioned actions would be liable to be either imprisoned for a certain term or fined or subjected to both. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Ever since man has existed laws have been made in order to restrict the bad deeds from the good deeds. It was also for the betterment of the human race as a whole that the construction of laws was done at constant rate and in line with the rising needs. Whenever a new matter arose, it was decided that what its good sides that were permitted were and what were the bad ones. With the advent of technology human society took a new turn. The computers that are an outcome of this technological advancement have now become embedded into the human lives like nothing was ever before. Social Networks are the most trending computing aspect nowadays. Just like every other field of life social networks also have their pros and cons. They may nurture criminals and therefore laws need to be devised that would restrict miscreants from taking over the otherwise benefitting network. The government of the United Kingdom has taken appropriate measures to devise laws that would address and govern criminal activities that often remained unaddressed. These included the faking of one’s identity and involvement into financial matters with intention of fraudulent handling of matters. One of the criminal activities is intentional making friends with youngsters and then taking advantage of their personal data in order to harass them and exploit them. Data manipulation and defaming of a person’s profile by making intentional comments and propagating false statements is also one of the many flourishing social network flaws. The laws mentioned in the report that have been devised by the UK legislature cover all these criminal activities fully and also dictate the punishment that anyone found guilty may have to suffer. REFERENCES Levy, J. 2011. USC Releases Study of Social Media Use in Sex Trafficking. Marketing Conversation. Online. Available at < http://marketingconversation.com/2011/09/20/usc-releases-study-of-social-media-use-in-sex-trafficking/ >. Accessed on [November 27, 2011] Moor, J. H. 1985. What Is Computer Ethics?. Metaphilosophy. 16(4), 266–75. Protection from Harassment Act 1997. Legislation.gov.uk. Online. Available at < http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1997/40/introduction> Accessed on [November 27, 2011] Silverman, M. June 02, 2010. Hot Lawyers are using social media for Real Results. Mashable Busines. Online. Available at < http://mashable.com/2010/06/01/lawyers-social-media/ >. Accessed on [November 27, 2011] 1990. Computer Misuse Act. Legislation.gov.uk. Online. Available at Accessed on [November 27, 2011] Read More