Legal considerations relating to the police use of social media

The impact of social media on emergency management has been substantial and its 'growing ubiquity', not only in geopolitical, economic and business spheres but also in official responsiveness to crisis and disaster', has been well documented. As preceding chapters have discussed, the ATHENA project will develop a system to allow the public to play a part in the effective and efficient management of a crisis situation by contributing to the 'conversation' through their use of social media networks and hi-tech mobile devices. Enabling the public to have a voice in such situations is a valuable asset, not only to those managing and responding to the crisis but also by empowering communities to help themselves and communicate their needs (see Chaps. 5, 12 and 13). However, there are also opportunities for police to use the data collected by the ATHENA system to enable more effective and efficient investigations into criminal offences that occur at the time, or as a consequence of, the crisis. Additionally, there is a proposition that data collected throughout the crisis will be retained and shared with European LEAs. It can be seen then that there are several parties to whom the ATHENA system will be of benefit., and this theme of mutual benefit will run throughout this chapter, which addresses the legal issues that may or will arise through police use of social media, both within and related to the ATHENA context.