After Yahoo was accused of snooping on its users' emails on behalf of US intelligence agencies, social media companies Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have come under fire for sending their users' feeds to police. All three networking companies have now announced that they are blocking Geofeedia, the tracking tool used for the purpose of surveillance.
The American Civil Liberties Union released a statement that the three prominent social media companies let Geofeedia access their data through an Application Programming Interface (API). Geofeedia can match data with geographic location. The company is said to be selling the information to police for various purpose including monitoring events.
ACLU said that such tools might threaten "free speech" by letting police target anyone looking to make their grievance public. The association alerted the social media companies about the potential misuse of users' data. ACLU said that social media platforms need to "stop facilitating" discriminatory police surveillance.
However, Geofeedia CEO Phil Harris said that the company is committed to protecting personal freedoms.
The Daily Dot reported that the US Denver Police Department paid at least $30,000 to Geofeedia for a software which can intercept, collect, and store online posts made on various social media platforms such as Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.
Twitter announced the withdrawal of Geofeedia's access to Twitter data in a tweet on Tuesday. Facebook and Instagram have also taken similar steps to block Geofeedia from accessing the data of its users. ACLU investigation shows that Geofeedia also used data from Weibo, Periscope, and Vine among others.