All right, so the last presentation for day two is Jacob Lloyd, who was talking about using the internet for your investigations. So thank you for being here.

Yeah, thank you for having me.

So before we go into, into your topic, can you let our audience know who you are and you know what you do?

Yeah. So, um, I'm the executive director of the Animal Welfare Investigations Project. So we're an NGO that investigates organized, animal crimes. So everything from dog fighting to, to puppy farming to wildlife crime, you name it, we investigate it. Um, been involved in covert investigations, particularly using the internet for the last 12 years. Um, yeah, that's me.

So you're, you're chat was basically about how to use the internet and how to use things like social media and that kind of stuff to learn, so can you run us through the process?

Yeah. Um, so, so with internet investigations, what, what you really wanna do, I is split it into several processes if you like. So you're looking at data collection, um, analysis, and then the reporting, or, what, whatever that product right end product's gonna be. Right? Um, and, and then in terms of that process, the way you can go through it with data collection, it's about using, ethical, transparent techniques and tactics to collect that information from the internet. And then you're gonna analyze it, you're gonna grade it, you're gonna look at the provenance of it. Um, and then you can produce some form of product, whether that's, you know, to support an application for a search warrant, or whether that's to produce in a criminal trial.

So one thing is like, there are a lot of people that go out there and try to do their own investigations, and I know like even like pulling, have you seen that kind of stuff?

Don't fuck with cats.

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So how safe is it for people to use their own personal social media to do these things?

Yeah, I, I wouldn't recommend it. I, I think especially in, in a professional setting, go, go seek out that training. There are free resources. We offer free training to law enforcement agencies and humane societies and so on, across the United States and globally. Um, so, so reach out to those resources and, and we can support you in building those covert accounts or whatever in terms of the training. I think, you know, if, if you're just an interested crime geek, and maybe you are researching somebody, get on YouTube, there's, there's a lot of resources on there. But, um, yeah, just be mindful that, you know, the internet works both ways, right?

Yeah. And there are people that think that there are some, some things that are really private and that nobody will know what you're ever talking about. But that's kind of not true, right?

Absolutely not true. Uh, especially here in the United States. That there's a lot of data out there. Your data is being sold, transferred. I I I always say that, if you download something like a free game, uh, free game app, you are, the product. Nothing's free. So you opt into that, that privacy policy, boom. You are being traded, so yeah, you're not safe.

Yeah. Because I mean, they're getting your information and then. So much ads and so many commercials, and you start seeing some things that are like tailored to you. Absolutely. And it's like, how do they know?

Yeah. And, and, and that all comes back down to the fact that you become, that, that product, it all comes down to it because the moment you're opt into that privacy policy, they're tracking even where you are clicking. You know, they're tracking your interaction. How much time you are spending, and so on and so forth, right? You look at loyalty schemes. You go into Walmart, what, whatever store that you want to, you wanna reference, and you have a loyalty card. Well, now I know what you, you spend your money on, right? It's powerful data, um, that can be bought and sold.

As far as investigators, this is a really good tool for them to use. Where can they get more information? You mentioned that there are like training information, like how can, like, can people reach out to you for, for assistance?

Yeah. Yeah. Fi find me on LinkedIn. Jacob Lloyd and I work for Investigations Project. Find me on LinkedIn. Um, you can also email me jLloyd@awp.org.uk. So reach out to me, um, and I'm more than happy to point you in the right direction. For law enforcement, there are actually free training resources both offered by us, but also through the National White Crime Collar Center, um, here in the U.S. which is all run by ex law enforcement. That's more catered for general crimes, and then we tailor our for animal crimes.

Fantastic. Well thank you so much for being here. and thank you for what you do.

Thank you so much.