Last Friday The Sydney Morning Herald reported on an Australian company which contracts to supply open intelligence to business and government:
David Vaile, executive director of UNSW's Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre, believes SR7 may be acting unethically and said he suspected companies were using dirt gathered from social networking sites as an excuse to fire people due to the challenging economic climate.
He said the practice could backfire when the economy turns around as people would refuse to work for or trust companies that spied on staff.
He said the issue raised questions over where the boundary is between public and private comments.
Here's what the company says about itself:
We provide protection and strategy for brands and reputations.
While one of its published case studies is quite frankly fascinating:
SR7 undertook a comprehensive audit for a leading State Government department to identify on-line risks to the organization and its business units with exposure to social media.
The assessment unearthed a series of online activities by employees and stakeholders, acting as an early warning system for key decision makers.
SR7 provided counsel and advice on mitigation strategies for implementation by the relevant agencies.
So which public servants were being spied on and in what state and which government department was silly enough to contract out this strange work to a company that brags like this?
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