1. Facebook is rolling out the hashtag function in earnest. This will allow researchers to more effectively search by topic on the social media. The Facebook news release is here.

2. Section 702 is the relevant section of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) which allows the US Government to obtain information on users of services such as Google and Facebook. While the Act itself does not prohibit these services from disclosing the means by which information is provided to the Government, the individual requests made under the Act will usually be accompanied by a gag order prohibiting the release of this type of information, at least according to Mashable.

3. When we provide training services, the discussion between trainers and students about using social media as an investigative tool will often drifts to the social media marketplace and how it is necessarily fragmented and targeted. If Facebook is the general store, boutiques will pop up to service some under-serviced market. Those specific interests could be based on language and culture, geography, interest, age, gender or any host of other demographic interest.

Enter Mashable’s article on 8 Bizarre Social Networks You Won’t Believe Exist, including datemypet.com, farmersonly.com, lineforheaven.com, myfreeimplants.com (nope, nothing to do with hearing aids), stachepassions.com, matchadream.com, ravelry.com and of course startrekdating.com.

I’ll let each visitor go to the sites themselves to see what their all about, but suffice to say they are all different from each other. Also, I’m relying on the article’s author for verification that the sites are what they purport to be. Nonetheless, the concept that researchers should apply the background and interests of the subjects of their research in choosing which open source platforms to target is obvious.

We have invited various experts in the field to provide the content for the course. Through their exposure to these experts and a broad range of content, students will not only be provided with the material they require to comply with the training and testing requirements of the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services of Ontario but will also be provided with useful insights to help them as they begin their career in the field of private investigations.

Further information about the location of the course, pricing and content is provided in the attached Course Brochure – May, 2013. Additional information may be obtained by contacting us.

The information varies from policy recommendations, to community outreach to mobile apps that are handy for law enforcement.

The proposed amendment to the Act would extend the prohibitions to include any information that reveals or from which may be inferred, the location or change of a person that they know to be a protected person.

It also prohibits the release of any information about the means and methods of protection programs and the identities of persons who provide protection, directly or indirectly if the disclosure could prove harmful to the person who does the protecting, their family or the protected person.

As of the time of writing the bill proposing the amendments had been referred to committee in the House of Commons.

Currently, the Ontario legislation which governs private investigators, the Private Security and Investigative Services Act, contains a section that prohibits private investigators from advertising or otherwise “holding  themselves out” to be able to locate or facilitate the location of an individual who is a member of a witness protection program; however, the current Training Curriculum For Private Investigators provided by the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services makes no mention of the Witness Protection Program Act in the Federal and Provincial Statues or the Criminal Law sections.

As the Ministry periodically revises the curriculum this may become a part of the official training standards, especially if the law itself is strengthened.

We have invited various experts in the field to provide the content for the course.  Through their exposure to these experts and a broad range of content, students will not only be provided with the material they require to comply with the Training and Testing Requirements of the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services of Ontario but will also be provided with useful insights to help them as they begin their career in the field of private investigations.

Further information about the location of the course, pricing and content  is provided in the attached Course Brochure – March, 2013. Additional information may be obtained by contacting us.

For further information, please see our previous post here, contact training@keynorthgroup.com or contact us by telephone.

We have invited various experts in the field to provide the content for the course.  Through their exposure to these experts and broad range of content, students will not only be provided with the material they require to comply with the Training and Testing Requirements of the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services of Ontario but will also be provided with useful insights to help them as they begin their career in the field of private investigations.

Further information about the location of the course, pricing and content  is provided in the attached Course Brochure – November 12-16, 2012. Additional information may be obtained by contacting us.

Our firm has been looking at the relationship between human trafficking and the Internet for quite some time. One document, produced by the Council of Europe called “Trafficking in human beings: Internet recruitment”
is particularly informative of the recruitment techniques used by human traffickers. While it is a little dated (2007), it does provide some concrete examples, including case studies of the methods used by these organizations.

There is a growing awareness of the white collar crime elements of human trafficking. For example, as evidenced by the document from the Council of Europe, there is recruitment which is done under false pretenses. There is a “marketing” or solicitation component which may be done through criminal networks, through street level solicitation or what is more common in the present time, through on-line advertisements. Finally, the criminals involved will need to launder the money that they obtain through their activities.

There are multiple dimensions to the problem and therefore the solution must be multifaceted. Law Enforcement is obviously critical to cracking down on the problem; however, the Federal Government has recognized that the not-for-profit sector can play vital roles in the areas of prosecution, public awareness/education and prevention activities. Public Safety Canada has developed grant and contribution programs to support these initiatives.

I’m also pleased to announce that I’ll be in good company. In addition to myself the speakers include:

• Barry Casselman, CRA: Canada Revenue Agency’s Enforcement and Disclosure Programs
• Inspector Biagio Carrese, RCMP: Money Laundering
• Vince Westwick: Ethics
• Daniel Côté: Improve your relationship with your financial advisor.

It will be a very good program and will satisfy 8 hours of CPE credits, including the requisite 2 hours of ethics training. For more information and to register for the program, please see the attached brochure, Agenda 15th Annual CFE Ottawa Fraud Professionals Conference or contact the Chapter .

We have invited various experts in the field to provide the content for the course.  Through their exposure to these experts and broad range of content, students will not only be provided with the material they require to comply with the Training and Testing Requirements of the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services of Ontario but will also be provided with useful insights to help them as they begin their career in the field of private investigations.

Further information about the location of the course, pricing and content  is provided in the attached Course Brochure – April 2012. Additional information may be obtained by contacting us.