Is it legal for police to hack into a minors myspace and tell their parents about underage drinking

Recently in the town I live in, I've heard that local police have been hacking into private myspace profiles of minors just to look for pictures of them drinking. A 20 year old friend of mine had a picture of herself drinking a beer in her profile (which was set to private). The police found a way to hack into it, then went to her father's place of work and told him about it. Is this legal? I've taken many criminology classes and it seems like unethical community police work. Any ideas?

Is it legal for police to hack into a minors myspace and tell their parents about underage drinking photos?

Yes.

myspace is a public place, and posting anything on there is viewable to the public. This means that you have evidence of illegal activity in plain view - thus making it something that can and will be used against you in a court of law. It doesn't matter if there is a "private" filter on it or not. It is intended to be seen, and posting it on the internet is public domain.

Is it legal for police to hack into a minors myspace and tell their parents about underage drinking photos?

Personally, I think this is BS. Do you have a realiable source on this one?

Is it legal for police to hack into a minors myspace and tell their parents about underage drinking photos?

apparantly anything cops do is legal. it's almost the same as them posing as some one else get other people to do illegal stuff and then arrest them

Is it legal for police to hack into a minors myspace and tell their parents about underage drinking photos?

posting your pictures on-line, even if they are set to "Private", is still a community forum and is subject to local laws. I bet the cops just made a fake profile and was accepted as a friend to the people.

on a personal note... DUH your posting pics of your illegal activities on the internet.... on one of the most visited sites ON the internet today. how long before it gets to someone that doesnt like you or, in this case, the police. simple answer, do not post pics that you do not want seen by EVERYONE.

Is it legal for police to hack into a minors myspace and tell their parents about underage drinking photos?

police do not employ hackers, its illegal. They do however, cruise my space pages and look for illegal activity that has been doccumented. Police may be given access to sites with a private designation by court order based upon probable cause of finding evidence of a criminal act. This is not given as a blanket authorization, it requires a case by case review. So I think there are a few facts about this situation that you are missing.

Is it legal for police to hack into a minors myspace and tell their parents about underage drinking photos?

I doubt police are hacking, I've never known a police officer to be that intelligent. What they are probably doing is contacting myspace and asking for these pictures. They can do that legally. Seeing as how they obtained your friend's father's place of work, this is most definitely the case, unless your friend's profile mentioned who her father was and where he worked (I doubt it).

If you are a minor, it is really dumb to drink, take pictures of it, and then post them on the internet! Private or otherwise!

Is it legal for police to hack into a minors myspace and tell their parents about underage drinking photos?

Myspace actually gives LE unlimited access to all accounts to look for criminal activity. It is in the EULA. It also gives all parents the right to look at their kids accounts also in EULA.

Is it legal for police to hack into a minors myspace and tell their parents about underage drinking photos?

Police are known for their computer hacking skills. You must be a f*ckin moron to believe this sh*t.

Is it legal for police to hack into a minors myspace and tell their parents about underage drinking photos?

For starters, police don't know squat about hacking (they have to call in outside technicians just to fix and upgrade their desktop PCs much like the average joe). And even if they hired a professional network security consultant to do it for them, accessing anybody's computer account without the express permission of either the server owner or the accountholder would be quite illegal.