4 ms·

> Those tweets cannot be used to convict someone. These tweets can't be used to convict you, but they could be used to secure a warrant and send a SWAT team in

> Those tweets cannot be used to convict someone. These tweets can't be used to convict you, but they could be used to secure a warrant and send a SWAT team into your house. Maybe they find drugs, maybe they shoot some people or pets, maybe they just scare everyone and damage your property. > 99% of the posts are from people who know it's public, don't care, and intentionally fill the description with stupidity How do you know that? My assumption was that payment details would not be publicly broadcast when I send money to a friend. Do you really think this assumption puts me in the bottom 1%?

mynameisvlad 8y ago
> but they could be used to secure a warrant and send a SWAT team into your house Nobody is going to send a SWAT team to someone's house over a $25 Venmo transaction marked as "drugs". Not only is it not even close to nearly enough evidence for a warrant, but a SWAT team isn't going to get sent for drug possession in any case.
- viridian 8y ago
  You are naive, and spreading dangerous infromation. I had a friend whose house got swatted a couple of years ago after another friend sent him money via paypal with the desc "thanks for the guns and drugs". The other friend, Canadian, also had law enforcement show up on behalf of interpol.
  - mynameisvlad 8y ago
    SWAT is called special weapons and tactics for a reason. They get sent out in dangerous situations such as hostages, or when the suspect is known to be very armed, not for any old call. It costs money to train and deploy them, and it's not done as often as you imply. Being swatted is a thing, but it's not going to happen over a $25 Venmo transaction titled as "drugs". Or even one titled as "weapons". There needs to be actual intent to harm someone immediately declared. Last year's swatting was because the person claimed he "had fatally shot his father, and was holding family members at gunpoint." Law enforcement is different than SWAT, so I won't even entertain your second anecdote except for saying in order for Interpol to get involved, they needed far more evidence than a Paypal transaction with that description.
    - viridian 8y ago
      Interpol wasn't involved, they literally just passed the info along to local QC law enforcement. This ended up being a thing that dragged on for several months for the Canadian. You are probably right though on the American friend, swatted was the wrong word. Maybe visited by armed cops ready to make an arrest was more like it.
- somebehemoth 8y ago
  People are able to send SWAT teams to houses as a prank. Someone malicious who is stalking another person could use this information to justify their "prank". What about do-gooders? Someone sees a transaction marked "for drugs" and they call the police because they think they are helping. This already happens to a lot of people holding cookouts, selling lemonade, cutting grass, and more. Hardly "nobody".
  - mynameisvlad 8y ago
    > People are able to send SWAT teams to houses as a prank. Someone malicious who is stalking another person could use this information to justify their "prank". Yes, by lying and saying there is a dangerous situation like a hostage. In the swatting incident from last year, they were called because the person said he "had fatally shot his father, and was holding family members at gunpoint." SWAT gets sent out, sure. But SWAT does not get sent out for minor drug charges. They're called special weapons and tactics for a reason.
    - somebehemoth 8y ago
      Not true: "SPOKANE, Wash. - SWAT raided a Spokane home on heroin warrant. It happened just before 11 am Friday morning at a duplex home on the corner of 4th and Altamont. Details were not immediately known but authorities on scene say they were serving a warrant related to heroin." http://www.khq.com/story/21437261/swat-situation http://www.khq.com/story/21437261/swat-situation How do police obtaining a warrant? In part by establishing probable cause. How is probable cause determined in the US: "Probable cause can be based on either direct observation by the police officer, or on hearsay information provided by others."
      - mynameisvlad 8y ago
        Once again, probable cause is a much higher bar than a Venmo transaction where you can put whatever you want in the description.
        8y ago
- s73v3r_ 8y ago
  In a country where SWATTING is a thing, I would not be so sure.
- daveFNbuck 8y ago
  According to a 2014 study by the ACLU, most SWAT raids are for drug searches. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2014/06/24/new-aclu-report-takes-a-snapshot-of-police-militarization-in-the-united-states/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2014/06/24/...

mynameisvlad 8y ago

> but they could be used to secure a warrant and send a SWAT team into your house Nobody is going to send a SWAT team to someone's house over a $25 Venmo transaction marked as "drugs". Not only is it not even close to nearly enough evidence for a warrant, but a SWAT team isn't going to get sent for drug possession in any case.

viridian 8y ago
You are naive, and spreading dangerous infromation. I had a friend whose house got swatted a couple of years ago after another friend sent him money via paypal with the desc "thanks for the guns and drugs". The other friend, Canadian, also had law enforcement show up on behalf of interpol.
- mynameisvlad 8y ago
  SWAT is called special weapons and tactics for a reason. They get sent out in dangerous situations such as hostages, or when the suspect is known to be very armed, not for any old call. It costs money to train and deploy them, and it's not done as often as you imply. Being swatted is a thing, but it's not going to happen over a $25 Venmo transaction titled as "drugs". Or even one titled as "weapons". There needs to be actual intent to harm someone immediately declared. Last year's swatting was because the person claimed he "had fatally shot his father, and was holding family members at gunpoint." Law enforcement is different than SWAT, so I won't even entertain your second anecdote except for saying in order for Interpol to get involved, they needed far more evidence than a Paypal transaction with that description.
  - viridian 8y ago
    Interpol wasn't involved, they literally just passed the info along to local QC law enforcement. This ended up being a thing that dragged on for several months for the Canadian. You are probably right though on the American friend, swatted was the wrong word. Maybe visited by armed cops ready to make an arrest was more like it.
somebehemoth 8y ago
People are able to send SWAT teams to houses as a prank. Someone malicious who is stalking another person could use this information to justify their "prank". What about do-gooders? Someone sees a transaction marked "for drugs" and they call the police because they think they are helping. This already happens to a lot of people holding cookouts, selling lemonade, cutting grass, and more. Hardly "nobody".
- mynameisvlad 8y ago
  > People are able to send SWAT teams to houses as a prank. Someone malicious who is stalking another person could use this information to justify their "prank". Yes, by lying and saying there is a dangerous situation like a hostage. In the swatting incident from last year, they were called because the person said he "had fatally shot his father, and was holding family members at gunpoint." SWAT gets sent out, sure. But SWAT does not get sent out for minor drug charges. They're called special weapons and tactics for a reason.
  - somebehemoth 8y ago
    Not true: "SPOKANE, Wash. - SWAT raided a Spokane home on heroin warrant. It happened just before 11 am Friday morning at a duplex home on the corner of 4th and Altamont. Details were not immediately known but authorities on scene say they were serving a warrant related to heroin." http://www.khq.com/story/21437261/swat-situation http://www.khq.com/story/21437261/swat-situation How do police obtaining a warrant? In part by establishing probable cause. How is probable cause determined in the US: "Probable cause can be based on either direct observation by the police officer, or on hearsay information provided by others."
    - mynameisvlad 8y ago
      Once again, probable cause is a much higher bar than a Venmo transaction where you can put whatever you want in the description.
      - 8y ago
s73v3r_ 8y ago
In a country where SWATTING is a thing, I would not be so sure.
daveFNbuck 8y ago
According to a 2014 study by the ACLU, most SWAT raids are for drug searches. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2014/06/24/new-aclu-report-takes-a-snapshot-of-police-militarization-in-the-united-states/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2014/06/24/...