Feds Can Watch You on Social Media, But They’re Supposed to Tell You About It

Federal agencies may monitor social media to assess how the public feels about their programs but agencies should be transparent about it and keep the information gathering at a general level, not a personal one, according to the Privacy Best Practices for Social Media guidance produced by the government’s Chief Information Officers Council.

For example, employees managing these “situational awareness” campaigns should not friend, follow or communicate with other social media users to draw out their opinions about a particular program. Social media situational awareness campaigns should also be approved by an agency’s top leadership, including privacy officers and legal counsel, the guidance states. Final reports on these campaigns should be scrubbed whenever possible of any data that identifies individuals. The guidance also recommends extensive training for anyone who manages social media sites about how and when to access information that identifies individual users.