Facebook stalking is the latest tool the La Crosse Police Department has employed to crack down on underage drinking, using photos obtained from the social media web site to issue underage drinking citations. But those recently charged, largely college students, argue police are going too far and violating their privacy.

Adam Bauer, a 20-year-old UW-La Crosse sophomore, is one of those students. Unexpectedly, he says, he received an e-mail this past October from La Crosse police officer Al Iverson, asking him to come to the police station. Bauer didn’t know why he was being called to the station and he claims Iverson told him he wasn’t in trouble. After Bauer arrived, Iverson presented photos of him at a party with a beer his hand. Bauer was later cited for underage drinking.

The police report says Bauer admitted to drinking, though he disputes that; he pleaded no contest a few weeks ago in La Crosse Municipal Court and has agreed to pay a $227 fine. At least seven other UW-La Crosse students, two of whom are Bauer’s roommates, were also cited under the same or similar circumstances.

**Finding the photos**

Bauer says La Crosse police created a spurious Facebook account under the name of “Jenny Anderson” and obtained the photos after Bauer accepted a friend request from that account. While police have not admitted to this, screenshots of the images as they appeared on the Facebook site, which were obtained by the Post from the La Crosse Police Department under Wisconsin’s public records law, are consistent with Bauer’s claim.

UW-La Crosse sophomore Cassandra Stenholt, who was also among those cited, told the Post she thinks the way La Crosse police used Facebook is unethical. In a telephone interview last week, Stenholt criticized the way the police department uses its resources.

“I think taxpayer’s money should go to something better,” said Stenholt. “[The police] should be more active in the community and try to stop crime on the streets.”

Both Stenholt and Bauer did not upload the photos themselves, but rather were tagged by friends. While Bauer accepted the fictitious friend request, Stenholt was located because one of her Facebook friends accepted the request. Both students say their privacy settings were restricted to some degree and not open to the general public.

Bauer and his roommates later notified Facebook of the alleged fake account, which Facebook has since removed. It is against Facebook’s terms of service to do anything misleading and “provide any false personal information…or create an account for anyone other than yourself without permission.”

The La Crosse Police Department would not comment as to whether it continues to use Facebook for investigating underage drinking. Officer Al Iverson did not return a voicemail seeking comment.

According to Interim UW-Milwaukee Police Chief Michael Marzion, the UWM Police Department does not use fake Facebook profiles to search for underage drinking.

“Our police department is busy enough with finding underage drinkers directly at parties,” said Marzion. “I wouldn’t think that would be a good use of our resources.”

Marzion says there have been instances where tipsters have notified the police department about house parties being promoted on Facebook. In some of those instances, UWM police contacted the party organizers prior to the event.

“People have sent us party invitations from Facebook and we’ve contacted the host of the party and recommended that they make other decisions,” said Marzion.

**Legality**

Bauer has agreed to pay the fine, but he thinks it’s questionable that police can issue underage drinking citations without alcohol in hand.

“They’re going out of their way to make cases going solely off of what was found on Facebook,” said Bauer. “I don’t feel like it’s right. How far are they able to go? How little evidence are they able to have?”

According to Julius Kim, an attorney at the law firm of Kim & Lavoy, S.C. in Brookfield , the way the police department obtained the photos is legal.

“This is an evolving area of the law,” said Kim. “I’m sure those people might have some concerns about their privacy, but the way the officers gained access to the profile would probably pass constitutional muster because they consented to accepting the friend request.”

Rebecca Jeschke, spokesperson for the San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), says the public at large has a misconception about true privacy on the internet.

“People have a fantasy that what they do in their online community is private,” said Jeschke. “If you accept a friend request from someone you don’t know, then what you say on your Facebook page is not private.”

Just last week, EFF filed a federal lawsuit against a handful of federal agencies under the federal Freedom of Information Act for refusing to disclose their policies for using social networking sites for investigations, data-collection, and surveillance. Recent news reports have publicized the government’s use of social networking data as evidence in various investigations, and Congress is currently considering several pieces of legislation that may increase protections for consumers who use social-networking websites and other online tools. The lawsuit seeks release of all records concerning policies for the use of social networking sites in government investigations.

The bottom line, says Jeschke, is that “people really have to take an active role in protecting their own privacy” – something Bauer has already taken steps to do. He told the Post that after receiving the underage drinking citation, he removed some personal information from his Facebook profile.

La Crosse police officer Al Iverson did not immediately return a voicemail seeking comment. The La Crosse Police Department declined comment.