Scottish council draws up regulations on using fake Facebook profiles for spying

An East Lothian Council document revealed staff were allowed to use false identities on social media to monitor people

The council said it had agreed not to use the powers at a cabinet meeting (Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

A Scottish council has drawn up rules for the use of fake Facebook profiles to spy on people, it has been reported.

East Lothian Council staff are allowed to use false identities on Facebook in order to befriend and monitor "targets", The Sun reported.

Details of the rules and regulations surrounding the practice were outlined in a report about "surveillance through social media," which the paper claims to have seen.

It said that council staff were allowed to look through social media profiles which were not protected.

However, the reasons why officials would want to monitor people's online behaviour are not specified in the document.

A spokeswoman for the council told The Sun that it had told by the Surveillance Commissioner that social media monitoring is regulated by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA), which tells public bodies what kinds of surveillance techniques they can use.

The powers laid down by RIPA are meant to be used "in the interests of national security," but councils have used the act in the past to monitor local newspaper journalists and detect fraudulent uses of disabled parking badges.

In a statement to the paper, the council said: "Although East Lothian Council has never used covert identities for social media as part as an investigation, and is highly unlikely to do so, a policy must be put in place to include all eventualities even if they are not used."

"Creating false identities would undergo even more rigorous testing and will not ever be used by East Lothian Council - it is a provision aimed at the police."

A spokeswoman said the council agreed not to use the powers at a cabinet meeting on 10 May.

Other councils have been more ready to use RIPA powers, however. Poole Borough Council was forced to apologise in 2010 after the Investigatory Powers Tribunal ruled against its use of RIPA to spy on a family to check they were living in the right school catchment area.

The Independent has contacted East Lothian Council for further comment.