Police in NY Demand Facebook Profile and PASSWORD When Applying For Permit

While that certainly sucks and does not sound legal, it appears to be from just one city and not the entire State of NY, right?

This is for the city of Watervliet, NY. with a population of 10K. Are you sure their police chief is conspiring with Gov. Cuomo?

Lol , what if you dont have facebook ?

Glad I'm in Virginia where people are still presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. If it is not required by state law they can wish all they want and prepare themselves for legal action should it be denied on these grounds.

Yes, what if one doesn't have the facebook? What then?

No permit??

Hmmm.... I'd be toast because not only do I have no Facebook nor Twitter account, I do not own a cell phone either. Frankly I like it that way! I have a friend in upstate NY and he has some real horror stories...

Maybe it is a test and anyone that gives out thier password gets denied. No way any gov agency is getting my password for anything without a warrant. (directly from me at least)

Question though, what do they hope to gain by having the password? All the secret stuff you posted with your criminal buddies?

I don't have a Facebook account... and never will... but I'd be tempted to get one and post some VERY interesting comments regarding the Watervliet PD.

I'm sure there'd be some VERY interesting 1st Amendment implications... especially of the kind that lawyers just LOVE.

There can't be any legal requirement for them to request that info, and there can't be any penalty for lying about it.
I would simply ignore their request and demand some legal reason to provide any FB info.
Ridiculous.

Gotta love the police/nanny state...

Lol , what if you dont have facebook ?

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Another vote for this - won't have one, never will only because I saw years ago where this BS was going

Founding fathers wouldn't of asked permission for a permit to exercise their rights anyways... So take that as you will, Guess id be brandished a criminal if i lived there, Just like the gentlemen who founded this country.

What's next, password for twitter, yelp or any and all internet forums??? My god, I feel sorry for the people of NY!

You can set your FB account to 100% private. This is slightly complicated if you wish to retain 2-way contact with those people you have added as Friends--but it can be done.

An outsider would then need your password to get in, and see your collection of laughing kitten videos. (It's also a handy way to operate if the "Internet Crime Squad" is the one guy in the stationhouse who 'knows how to email.')

Also, you can subpoena FB all you want, they can't give you a User's p/w--it's encrypted in their system. (They can use their oversight ability to "see" your stuff--but this would be a slow process.)

FB, along with a great many p/w-accessed account providers, encrypts passwords. This makes them far more secure, at less overall effort, and least use of bandwidth. The way it works is like a single-use code key. Whatever string of things the user enters is converted into a numeric form--such as hexadecimal (base16). That number is then ciphered using a known (by the account provider) formula.

So, when you log in, your sting of characters creates a unique number. That number is then run past the formula, if the two numbers match, your p/w is "good" and you are logged in. If not, no dice.

This is also part of why those "Use one upper case, one lower case, one numeral, and one special character" p/w requirements are absurd. The way the math works, you only have to scroll though about 150 characters for each of the p/w characters. The code for that is well within the skills of a reasonably bright teenager. (A reasonably bright, and lazy, teenager, with a questionable set of morals/common sense, can download a p/w cracker from one of the numerous 696 & crack/hack sites.)

Oh, and giving out your FB password to any party or group w/out FB's express permission is a violation of the FB ToS (Terms of Service--that blur of boilerplate nobody much ever reads), and FB can close your account for so doing. Sorry 'bout that, WPD.

Sometime within the last 24 months, I seem to recall a court case (or a government ruling) that made it illegal for a potential employer to ask that same information.

And, like several others here, I don't have FB/Twitter/LinkedIn, etc. - just a non-smart cellphone.

step 1: change your password in facebook
step 2: write down the password on their paperwork
step 3: change the password back

This police chief is obviously in desperate need of a new GF

Just write : "Does not apply"

I use a fake name on FB and there's no mention of my name or any pictures of me anywhere on the internet. There's a record of my home sale from 2009. That's it. That's all, period.
I have no cell phone linked to my name. I use a pay-by-minute phone that is very inexpensive.
I have a home phone that is unlisted.
My NYS CCW permit is from Columbia County, and there were no questions like that on my application, nor my re-applicaton (post safe act).
If I saw something on the application like that, I would have raised a mighty stink, and paid a lawyer to start working on that municipality's attempt at violating my privacy.
There's NO POSSIBLE GOOD THING that can come of an official request for my password for ANYTHING.

I have yet to see a need for a Facebook account. I have not seen anyone's life improved by having a FB account but have seen lots of bad as a result. I'm in the never had one, never will camp.

MErl said:

Maybe it is a test and anyone that gives out their password gets denied. No way any gov agency is getting my password for anything without a warrant. (directly from me at least)

Question though, what do they hope to gain by having the password? All the secret stuff you posted with your criminal buddies?

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Creating a reason to deny an application seems to be the underlying justification. The cops in this case just seem to want to have all the evidence right there in front of them. The chief checks out an applicants contacts as well as their posts and cherry picks what he thinks will discredit an individual.

http://bulletsfirst.net/2014/10/20/police-ny-demand-facebook-profile-password-applying-permit said:

"those who refuse to submit to Boisvert’s electronical voyeurism will be denied a permit and upon appeal the judges will fully be aware of your contempt of cop."

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chuck

It's NY, so the next thing they'll want is the PIN # to your bank account.

PIN#.......is that the Personal Identification Number Number? I heard those are issued by the Department of the Redundancy Department.