Fake social media accounts have been used by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment more than 400 times since the start of 2020, Marc Daalder reports. Immigration New Zealand has used fake social media accounts to covertly watch suspected offenders hundreds of times in the past 15 months. A simple review of publicly-available information, like a Google search or a public social media account, can be done without approval. Level 3, "discreet searching", involves the use of a fake account to gain access to private discussions and requires managerial sign-off. MBIE told Newsroom that since the start of 2020, Level 2 usage had been authorised 100 times and Level 3 usage allowed 426 times.

Source: Stuff June 08, 2021 18:45 UTC