Institution-Specific Classes of Personal Information

Social media monitoring

Description: This class describes personal information inadvertently collected using a third-party social media monitoring software. The Department of Justice uses social media and digital media monitoring tools that provide it with the capability to view publicly available information on social and digital media. This initiative allows for research and analysis of issues relevant to the Department to allow for better understanding of current opinion on specific Justice issues for the purposes of identifying trends, informing communications activities, and creating communications products. Such information may include name, username, profile picture or avatar, location, and personal views and opinions as posted by the individual on social media. While this activity may inadvertently collect personal information, it is not used for administrative purposes. Note, the tool provides a link to the user’s external social media profile and additional personal information may be visible directly from the social media site if it was made public by the user.