Boston PD Social Media Surveillance

Aaron Cantú filed this request with the Boston Police Department of Boston, MA.
Submitted Jan. 28, 2016
Status
Rejected

Communications

From: Aaron Cantú

Subject: Public Records Law Request: Boston PD Social Media Surveillance

Email

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, M.G.L. c.66, §10, I hereby request a copy of all records or portions thereof pertaining to, or containing the following:

1. All records regarding the purchase of, acquisition of, installation of, subscription to, payment for, or agreements concerning software designed to access information from social media services;

2. All records that contain any information about the functioning of software designed to access information from social media services that is used or has been used by the Boston Police Department;

3. All records regarding correspondence about or with a company that offers software designed to access information from social media services, including but not limited to all correspondence about or with the companies Brightplaent, Geofeedia, Intrado Inc, LifeRaft, Magnet Forensics, Media Sonar, Signal Corporation, and ZeroFOX;

4. All records regarding the policies that govern access to or use of software designed to access information from social media services;

5. All training materials and all records used to instruct members of your agency in the proper use of software designed to access information from social media services or of the information such software is capable of accessing;

6. All records regarding the sharing with entities outside the Boston Police Department of information obtained from or obtained by using software designed to access information from social media services;

7. All records referencing social media profiles, comments, posts, messages, or events accessed or retained from social media services through use of software designed to access information from social media services.

I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as we believe this request is in the public interest, as suggested but not stipulated by the recommendations of the Massachusetts Supervisor of Public Records. The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, processed by a representative of the news media/press and is made in the process of news gathering and not for commercial usage.

I expect the request to be filled in an accessible format, including for screen readers, which provide text-to-speech for persons unable to read print. Files that are not accessible to screen readers include, for example, .pdf image files as well as physical documents.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 calendar days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Aaron Cantú

From: Media Relations

Subject: Re: Public Records Law Request: Boston PD Social Media Surveillance

Email

January 29, 2016

Aaron Cantú
Muckrock

Dear Mr. Cantu:

Pursuant to G. L. c. 66, § 10 (b), this correspondence is to confirm

receipt of your request for documents that are potentially in the
possession, custody or control of the Boston Police Department.
Specifically, you have requested:

1. All records regarding the purchase of, acquisition of, installation of,
subscription to, payment for, or agreements concerning software designed to
access information from social media services;

2. All records that contain any information about the functioning of
software designed to access information from social media services that is
used or has been used by the Boston Police Department;

3. All records regarding correspondence about or with a company that offers
software designed to access information from social media services,
including but not limited to all correspondence about or with the companies
Brightplaent, Geofeedia, Intrado Inc, LifeRaft, Magnet Forensics, Media
Sonar, Signal Corporation, and ZeroFOX;

4. All records regarding the policies that govern access to or use of
software designed to access information from social media services;

5. All training materials and all records used to instruct members of your
agency in the proper use of software designed to access information from
social media services or of the information such software is capable of
accessing;

6. All records regarding the sharing with entities outside the Boston
Police Department of information obtained from or obtained by using
software designed to access information from social media services;

7. All records referencing social media profiles, comments, posts,
messages, or events accessed or retained from social media services through
use of software designed to access information from social media services.

We will contact you as soon as possible with our findings, and will send

you a cost estimate for your requested materials if fulfilling the request
is expected to exceed $10.00, per 950 C.M.R. 32.06(1); 950 C.M.R. 32.03;
M.G.L. c 66 § 10(a).

Please be advised that we research each request in the order it was
received, and it may take longer than ten days to be fulfilled. If your
request requires a substantial amount of research, reviewing and redacting,
fulfilling the request will take a significant amount of time. Please plan
accordingly.

Thank you,

Office of Media Relations
Boston Police Department
617-343-3520
www.bpdnews.com

From: Media Relations

Subject: Re: Public Records Law Request: Boston PD Social Media Surveillance

Email

Dear Mr. Cantu,

Pursuant to your records request below. Please see responses provided.

Thank you.
Lt McCarthy

1. All records regarding the purchase of, acquisition of, installation of,
subscription to, payment for, or agreements concerning software designed to
access information from social media services; *The Boston Police
Department does not utilize software designed to access information from
social media. As such we do not have records responsive to this part of
your request.*

2. All records that contain any information about the functioning of
software designed to access information from social media services that is
used or has been used by the Boston Police Department; See above response
to question one. *No responsive documents*

3. All records regarding correspondence about or with a company that offers
software designed to access information from social media services,
including but not limited to all correspondence about or with the companies
Brightplaent, Geofeedia, Intrado Inc, LifeRaft, Magnet Forensics, Media
Sonar, Signal Corporation, and ZeroFOX;

*The BPD is currently seeking RFP's for acquiring technology and services
of social media threats for the Boston Police Department.*

*The information you have requested is exempt from disclosure by MGL c. 4
s. 7(26)(h). Specifically, the evaluation of the non-price proposals is
ongoing and the price proposals have remained sequestered and unopened.
Where the time to open all proposals has not passed, the submissions are
not subject to release as public records. Also, the release of these
materials, prior to the contract being awarded, would serve to violate the
terms of the Request for Proposals and would have an adverse effect on the
fairness of the evaluation process. *

*For these reasons, the Department is denying your public records request.
Please be advised that this office does not provide legal assistance,
opinions or explanations about police policy to the public, and will not
respond to any such request. If you have been denied records by the Boston
Police Department, you have the right to appeal this decision with the
Supervisor of Public Records at the Public Records Division of the
Secretary of the Commonwealth. *

4. All records regarding the policies that govern access to or use of
software designed to access information from social media services; *No
records responsive*

5. All training materials and all records used to instruct members of your
agency in the proper use of software designed to access information from
social media services or of the information such software is capable of
accessing; *None exist. No responsive records*

6. All records regarding the sharing with entities outside the Boston
Police Department of information obtained from or obtained by using
software designed to access information from social media services; *No
records responsive*

7. All records referencing social media profiles, comments, posts,
messages, or events accessed or retained from social media services through
use of software designed to access information from social media services. *No
records responsive. *

Files

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