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07/20/2010
42:40
7032350442
DHS FOIA
PAGE 10
U.S.D «p *m n tn t of HomelandSteuH ty
415 Hot»f St
Yakima, W A 98901
U.S. citizenship
and Immigration
Services
Social NetworkingS i t e s and Their Importance toF D N S
The Internet has made it increasingly easierf o r people to get connected with each other whether
that is with long-distance family, fiiends, or to find new loves and friendships. Social
networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook, Classmates, Hi-5, and other similar sites are
designed to allow peoplet o share their creativity, pictures, and information with others.
Sometimes people do this tof i n d romance, sometimes they do it to find fiiends with similar
interests, and sometimes they do it to keep in touch with family. Narcissistic tendenciesi n many
people fuelsa need to have a large group of"friends" link tot h e ir pages and many of these
people accept cyber-friends that they don't even know. This provides an excellent vantage point
for FDNS to observe the daily life of beneficiaries and petitioners who are suspected of
fraudulent activities. Generally, people on these sites speak honestly inth e ir network because all
of theirfrien d s and family are interacting with them via lM 's (Instant Messages), Blogs (Weblog
journals), etc. This social networking gives FDNSa n opportunity to revealfra u d by browsing
these sites to see if petitioners and beneficiariesare in a valid relationship ora re attempting to
deceive CIS about their relationship. Once a user posts online, they createa public record and
timeline o f their activities. In essence* using MySpacea n d other like sites is akin to doingan
unannounced cyber" s it e - v is it " on a petitionersan d beneficiaries.
Here is a step-by-step process o f how a generic social networking website works:
1. A user registersa n email addressa n d password witht h e siteth u s creating a unique
account
2. Typically, the website sends a confirmation email to the user's address to validate that
person's identity,
3. The user may then create a profile. Thisp r o f ile may contain whateverin fo r m a tio n the
user decides to publish online. The user can decide whether to make thep r o f ile public or
private. The user may change or manipulate information in his profileat anytim e . In this
step» the new user can become a member of an u m b er o f networks. These networks can
be based on high school, hometown, job» church, or any other type of social group,
4. Anyone mays e a r c h for another user by complété name, screen name or email address
and requestt o be that user's" fr ie n d ." Thatu se r can deny or agree to the" frien d " request.
5. When addinga user as a" frien d " the accepting userc a n now see your profile including
all the personal information entered into the profile. The newfr ie n d can also seea n y new
information the user may add at a later date such as an online journal entry or
photographs.
FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
1
AILA InfoNet Doc. No. 10101473. (Posted 10/14/10)
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