State & Local Government Policy, Business and Technology

Boston Police plans to monitor social media draw praise, criticism

American City and County: The Boston Police Department may soon enact controversial plan to utilize software that would scan social media for criminal activity and threats. While proponents of the plan say the software will make Boston a safer city, civil liberties groups say it would be an invasion of privacy.

The software will be able to search blogs, chat rooms, websites and social media platforms to provide law enforcement officials with a physical location of where a post originated, and send alerts when posts are made that fill certain criteria, according to the Boston Globe. The department plans to spend up to $1.4 million on the software and hopes to select a vendor early this month.

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