Houston updates support for social media monitoring tools

The Houston Police Department will continue to join law enforcement agencies across the country in using software to monitor social media for information about criminal activity, following Wednesday’s City Council vote.

Council members approved spending $108,000 on Dataminr’s software without discussion or opposition. Dataminr had drawn concerns from freedom advocates while touting its ability to alert police to critical events.

Supporters argue that Dataminr’s product does not raise privacy concerns because it relies on public posts from social media users. But critics have warned that government agencies are using Dataminr products to target abortion and Black Lives Matter protesters.

Dataminr is one of the most well-known companies out there that provides social media monitoring to law enforcement agencies. The debate over the company’s products, playing out at the local and national level, pits social media’s potential as a law enforcement tool against the civil liberties of internet users.

Houston has been paying Dataminr since February 2021, according to the City Controller’s vendor database.

Founded in 2009, the New York-based company provides products for businesses, government agencies, and news organizations to keep pace with social media developments. One of its distinctive selling points is access to raw data streams from X, the social media network formerly known as Twitter. The company said it also receives information from 55,000 other public sources, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The company claims it has used its data to alert government officials about disasters such as a chemical plant explosion in Louisiana and a high-rise condominium collapse in Florida hours before traditional news sources.

In documents provided to City Council members, city officials said the software will allow police to “enhance situational awareness and provide real-time alerts for crime, homeland security, and cybersecurity purposes on any social media platform. ” he said.

There were no objections to the software from City Council members, and the purchase application was swiftly and unanimously approved Wednesday. The City Council approved similar spending authority in December 2022 without debate.

But in other cities, citizens fear Dataminr could be used to identify protesters exercising their First Amendment rights or members of the public whose social media posts are being misunderstood. It is under intense scrutiny from political freedom groups.

In 2022, federal marshals received regular updates from Dataminr about the location and timing of abortion rights protests, according to documents obtained by The Intercept. The company also helped police departments in Minneapolis and other cities monitor protests following the death of George Floyd in 2020, online media reported.

However, the company rejects the idea that the alert constitutes surveillance.

“First Alert provides public goods with the utmost protection of privacy and civil liberties,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “First Alert is designed to prevent all forms of surveillance. This product technically limits the ability to target, profile, monitor, or search groups of social media users or individuals.”

Angel Díaz, a visiting assistant professor at the University of Southern California School of Law, said he was not convinced by the company’s claims that it does not provide surveillance tools.

“To me, it’s like a distinction without a difference, because ultimately what they’re providing is information about a specific account,” he says. “They monitor all tweets and offer the ability to extract specific tweets that they believe are evidence of potential criminal activity. I don’t understand how that isn’t surveillance.”

Diaz said he was concerned, for example, about reports that the company’s employees were tasked with finding information about crimes on Chicago’s South Side.

“The question is: Who is receiving what kinds of alerts? Who is falling under this web of suspicion and who is being ignored?” he said. “There are ways to confirm your prior beliefs about a community based on who you choose to search for.”

Texas Civil Rights Project spokesman Christopher Rivera said he was concerned that police could use the tool to zero in on protesters.

“Ultimately, what the protesters want is better conditions for themselves,” he said. “Yet, police often use it for deterrence and surveillance, and to criminalize protected speech.”

The Houston Police Department did not respond to questions about whether it has any restrictions on the use of the software.

An HPD spokesperson said the software is limited to public social media updates.

“This is all public sources, so there are no privacy concerns,” Jodi Silva said.

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