5 things to know about what private sextortion-help firms can — and can’t — do

MetroPassaic County Courthouse. Generic photos in a courtroom, Paterson New Jersey. Scales of Justice. Tuesday, December 13, 2022. Patti Sapone | NJ Advance Media for NJ.comPatti Sapone | NJ Advance Media By Michael Johnson, cleveland.comcleveland.com Express DeskCLEVELAND, Ohio — Hiring a private firm for help with sextortion can provide investigative support, evidence review and assistance with removal requests.But paying for those services does not give the firm authority to compel social media companies to turn over another person’s private records or guarantee that intimate images will be removed.These are five takeaways from the original article, which examined the legal and practical limits of private sextortion investigations.1. Private investigators can analyze evidence a client already hasA firm can review material a victim lawfully possesses, including files, messages and other digital evidence.That can include examining metadata, tracing cryptocurrency activity or analyzing communications for investigative leads.Those services do not require access to a suspect’s private social media records.2. Hiring a firm does not unlock another person’s accountSocial media companies apply separate legal rules to requests for someone else’s records.For criminal investigations, platforms such as Meta require different forms of legal process depending on whether authorities seek basic subscriber information, additional account records or stored communications such as messages, photos and videos.A victim may share messages they received, but that does not give a private firm access to unrelated communications inside the other person’s account.3. A subpoena does not automatically overcome privacy protectionsPrivate parties and attorneys can pursue records through legal processes, but protected communications remain subject to federal law.The Stored Communications Act permits some disclosures with valid consent and allows providers to voluntarily release certain noncontent information.But a civil subpoena alone does not automatically require a platform to turn over protected message content.4. Platforms, not hired firms, control statutory image removalThe TAKE IT DOWN Act requires covered platforms to provide a process for removing qualifying nonconsensual intimate images.A valid request can trigger a 48-hour removal requirement and reasonable efforts to find identical copies.Those legal duties belong to the platform. Hiring a private firm does not transfer that authority to the firm or guarantee the platform’s response.5. Free hashing tools are separate from legal removal requestsStopNCII.org lets adults create digital fingerprints, or hashes, of intimate images already on their devices so participating platforms can look for matches.For images depicting someone before age 18, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children operates the separate Take It Down service.Those tools do not cover the entire internet, and submitting a hash is not the same thing as filing a statutory removal request under federal law.The distinction is central: A private firm can help investigate, document and pursue options, but it does not gain control over platform records, criminal enforcement or image-removal systems simply because a client pays for assistance.Michael Johnson brings nearly four decades of newspaper experience in reporting, editing, newsroom leadership, page design and digital publishing. He has led daily and weekly newsrooms in Pennsylvania,...