Social networking in legal cases: Locating missing and wanted persons

Erin M Poremski, Purdue University

Abstract

The prevalence of technology that now provides the majority of the world’s population with perpetual internet access, combined with the popularity of social networking, is bringing about an evolution in social communication systems. The internet provides a means for instant information transactions that have resulted in a persistent databank that essentially represents the collective knowledge of all of humanity. Government entities, private sector businesses, and individual citizens worldwide are continually contributing to and taking information from social media, distributing and redistributing it to millions of other Internet users, with minimal expectation of privacy or anonymity. The ability to access pertinent information from the internet is changing the way civil and criminal investigations are conducted, and new investigative processes are developing. This research studies the pattern of proliferation and dissemination of information in legal cases concerning missing or wanted persons through social media.

Degree

M.S.

Advisors

Rogers, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Criminology|Web Studies|Computer science

Off-Campus Purdue Users:
To access this dissertation, please log in to our
proxy server
.

Share

COinS