The Justice Department has agreed to a settlement with a woman who filed a suit against the government in 2013 for using her personal information in creating a false Facebook page.

As part of the settlement, Sondra Arquiett will receive US$134,000 and in exchange the Justice Department will not admit it did anything wrong.

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The government first justified this method but later backed down. It said that it will conduct a reassessment of its covert operations. 

Arquiett was arrested by Drug Enforcement Administration agents in 2010 during a drug raid. At that time, her cellphone was confiscated by the DEA.

Using the information on her cellphone, the DEA created a fake Facebook page to lure her friends and contacts also involved in the drug trade.  According to Arquett, the account was set up to specifically make contact with dangerous criminals the DEA was pursuing.  The intended targets had no idea they were actually talking to DEA agents who pretended they were Arquiett.

The government insisted that Arquiett "implicitly" consented to the use of her photos found in her cellphone, Big Story reports.

Arquiett contradicted the Justice Department's official statement and instead said she suffered from "emotional distress" and feared for her life since it gave the appearance that she was cooperating with the federal authorities.

The case attracted media attention due to concerns of government infringing on the privacy rights of Americans. The Verge said Facebook shut down the fake account and condemned the violation of the company's terms and conditions. The social site obligates its clients to use their real names when registering their account.

The DEA isn't the only government agency using social media to hunt down criminals. Other federal agencies and police also use similar tactics.

TagsUS government, US Government News, US Government Settlement, US Department of Justice, Facebook Fake Accounts, Facebook Impersonations, US Department of Justice Facebook Impersonation, Sondra Arquiett, Sondra Arquiett News, Sondra Arquiett DEA