INTERNET SEARCHES FOR VETTING, INVESTIGATIONS, AND INTELLIGENCE
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of the information found by the investigator improper. It appears that the
investigator can use information that the subject posts openly. However, the
investigator must collect posted information by legal means (which could
include deception that is not illegal or unethical). A subject might use the
argument that a user agreement prevents any investigative use of a social
site posting, but since the posting is visible to hundreds of millions of peo-
ple, the basis for such a claim would be questionable.
While this chapter addressed several legal issues tangentially related
to Internet vetting, its main intent is to help establish a framework for prin-
ciples that can be appli