Twenty five years ago the “King Of Pop” Michael Jackson released a song called Who’s Watching Me – he felt that somebody was always watching him. “I always feel like somebody is watching me and I can’t get no privacy”, said the King.

The EFF has obtained documents that reveal the FBI, IRS and other law enforcement agencies are use social networking sites and social media tools to watch on people and to gather information on them.

The EFF says that several U.S. federal agencies have implemented training courses on how to create fake profiles and search for information using  social networks, social media and internet tools. IRS employees use Google Street View and social networking sites to investigate taxpayers.

The Justice Department has a presentation entitled “Obtaining and Using Evidence from Social Networking Sites.” The slides, which were prepared by two lawyers from the agency’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, detail several social media companies’ data retention practices and responses to law enforcement requests. The presentation also touches on use of social media for undercover operations. Full story