Facebook Fake Case Filed: How far can the Government go?

October 10th, 2014. By LucyC

In addition to being very creepy—the allegations made in a lawsuit brought by a woman whose identity was used by federal agents to create a bogus Facebook page, really brings home the question—does the end justify the means?

Apparently not, according to Sondra Arquiett, whose former identify—i.e. her maiden name, a photo and personal history—were used by federal agents as part of a sting against drug buyers.

The story goes, according to the lawsuit, that DEA Agent Timothy Sinnigen used information and personal photos stored on Sondra Arquiett’s cell phone, which had been confiscated in a drug bust in 2010. At that time, Sondra Arquiett, then 28, went under her married name of Sondra Price. She was charged, found guilty and given probation for her minor role in a cocaine ring.

Sinnigen used the data on Arquiett’s phone to make a remarkably accurate “Sondra Price” Facebook page, according to her federal lawsuit. In fact, the page had accurate information on where she went to high school, what car she drove and her nickname—“Sosa”. Information taken from her confiscated cell phone and posted as part of the bogus identity also included the fact that she had at least one child, according to Buzzfeed, which originally reported the story. First question on this—what gives the feds the right to do this? Second question—are they putting her and her children at risk?

Arquiett’s lawyer, Donald Kinsella, told The New York Post “Agents of the government should not should not be doing this. The ‘capital-G government’ did this.” He said his client is no longer on probation and has led a crime-free life since that 2010 bust. Arquiett is suing Sinnigen and the US government for punitive and compensatory damages totaling a half-million dollars. I should think so.

According to Arquiett’s lawsuit, she was arrested on July 15, 2010, and the Facebook page was created the next month. It was operated for at least three months by Agent Sinnigen, who accepted “Sondra Price’s” friend requests. “Sinnigen then utilized the Facebook page to initiate contact with dangerous individuals he was investigating with regard to an alleged narcotics distribution ring,” according to the lawsuit

“She suffered fear and great emotional distress because, by posing as her on Facebook, Sinnigen had created the appearance that [Arquiett] was willfully cooperating in his investigation of the narcotics trafficking ring, thereby placing her in danger,” the lawsuit contends. Her lawyer wouldn’t say whether or not Arquiettt had faced any threats or had to deal with dodgy characters as a result of the FB page. And, it isn’t clear whether or not the page actually led to any arrests.

Kinsella declined to say whether his client ever met any shady characters or faced a threat because of it.

According to The Post, the DEA isn’t disputing the facts in the lawsuit, but insists Arquiett lost all rights to her cellphone data when her phone was confiscated. She “implicitly consented by granting access to the information stored in her cellphone’’ and lost all control of how it was used, according to the feds’ legal papers. This sounds like identity hijacking—if you’ve got someone by the short and curlies—what choice do they have about surrendering their rights?

Apparently both sides have agreed on a mediator and hope to resolve the dispute instead of going to trial, Kinsella said.

In a way it would be good if this suit did go to court—it raises so many questions around the use of personal data in the digital age. Bottom line, not only is big brother watching—he’s using.

This was posted on Friday, October 10th, 2014 at 11:45 am and is filed under Crazy Sh*t Lawyers See, Emerging Issues . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.