The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Police advised to use animal photo for social media profile
Guidance to tackle risk of being blackmailed
Police are being advised to use a picture of their favourite animal as a Facebook profile picture to combat the threat of being blackmailed.
The Courier has obtained the 16-page guide issued to officers and staff to reduce the risk of “the wrong people” accessing their personal information.
The guide gives advice on how to stay safe while accessing sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube as well as dating and online gambling sites.
Police are also asked to consider using a shortened version of their name on their profile to “make it more difficult for people to find your account”.
The guide said it has been known for defence lawyers to research social media sites and use personal information to question a police officer’s credibility and reliability in court.
Staff were also given advice on how to disable locations services to “prevent someone tracking your movements and identifying your home address or place of work”.
Officers are also told not to give away too much personal information if using dating sites as it says some profiles “may be run by blackmailers”.
The Courier asked Police Scotland how many complaints have been received with regards police officers’ use of Twitter or social media.
The force said the information would prove too costly within the context of the fee regulations – estimating it would cost “well in excess” of the £600 threshold.
Police Scotland was also asked how many officers have been internally disciplined in each of the past two years with regards social media use.
Again they refused to give the information on cost grounds, stating that every complaint case would require a “manual examination to extract the data requested”.