Facebook says helping Oslo police in missing girl case

August 9, 2012

Facebook said Thursday it is cooperating with Norwegian authorities who are probing the disappearance of a teenage girl after police earlier said the website had refused them access to her account.

During a press briefing on the investigation into the missing girl, Oslo police inspector Hanne Kristin Rohde said investigators had "for the time being received a 'no' from Facebook regarding access and insight into her account."

But Facebook told AFP in an emailed statement that it had been assisting police in the investigation.

"We've been cooperating with the police within a matter of minutes of them contacting us and are supplying them with further information relevant to the investigation," the statement said, without providing further details.

Sixteen-year-old Sigrid Schjetne disappeared on her way home late Saturday.

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7 comments

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Royale
4 / 5 (4) Aug 09, 2012
I applaud Facebook for this. Hopefully they keep my information private too. If I go missing, getting access to my Facebook would glean no new insights. I frankly don't care what the reason is, internet companies should be protecting user rights.
wiyosaya
5 / 5 (1) Aug 09, 2012
I applaud Facebook for this. Hopefully they keep my information private too. If I go missing, getting access to my Facebook would glean no new insights. I frankly don't care what the reason is, internet companies should be protecting user rights.

While your facebook account may not have anything that would tell where you might be if you disappeared, that does not mean that every facebook user's account would be equally useless in such circumstances.

One thing is for sure in this: the people at facebook are not experts in finding missing persons. If facebook personnel reviewed the account and dismissed the info there as irrelevant, they might have missed something that a police expert would not miss.

If I went missing, I would want every stone turned over. Therefore, I do not agree with facebook's decision on this, and that decision, if it were concerning my account in such circumstances, would enrage me.
ValeriaT
5 / 5 (1) Aug 09, 2012
This is rather controversial decision if we consider, such an information COULD save the girl's life. Would you refuse to track your mobile, if you would get lost in mountains just because such tracking violates the privacy of mobile phone users?
semmsterr
not rated yet Aug 09, 2012
Some protocols need to be worked out for situations like this. ASAP. I find it odd that there aren't any.
kochevnik
5 / 5 (1) Aug 09, 2012
Mark Zuckerberg says you have no right to privacy. Unless, of course, you go missing and your life depends on searching for any clue to your whereabouts. In that case he orders your unmarked grave to be sealed.
Grallen
5 / 5 (3) Aug 09, 2012
If someone wants police or other government officials to have access to their Facebook in the case of their disappearance, they should write so in a private location on their profile.

Then when the police ask for access: Facebook reviews the account, and sees that you've given written permission...
Royale
not rated yet Aug 13, 2012
Grallen,
I think that your idea is the best one I've heard. And I agree. Check the 'allow my account to be reviewed by the police, upon request' box. I do wonder how few people would end up checking said box though.

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