Editing Instant messaging (section)

=== Tracking and spying ===
News reports from 2013 revealed that the [[NSA]] is not only collecting emails and IM messages but also tracking relationships between senders and receivers of those chats and emails in a process known as [[metadata]] collection.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Risen |first1=James |last2=Poitras |first2=Laura |date=28 September 2013 |title=N.S.A. Gathers Data on Social Connections of U.S. Citizens |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/29/us/nsa-examines-social-networks-of-us-citizens.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&_r=1& |accessdate=2015-10-11 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> Metadata refers to the data concerned about the chat or email as opposed to contents of messages. It may be used to collect valuable information.<ref>{{cite web |date=2013-07-17 |title=A Primer on Metadata: Separating Fact from Fiction - Privacy By Design |url=http://www.privacybydesign.ca/index.php/paper/a-primer-on-metadata-separating-fact-from-fiction/ |accessdate=2015-10-11 |publisher=Privacybydesign.ca |archive-date=2014-02-26 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140226213320/http://www.privacybydesign.ca/index.php/paper/a-primer-on-metadata-separating-fact-from-fiction/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In January 2014, Matthew Campbell and Michael Hurley filed a [[class-action lawsuit]] against [[Facebook Inc|Facebook]] for breaching the [[Electronic Communications Privacy Act]].<ref>Grove, Jennifer (2014). Facebook Sued for Allegedly Intercepting Private Messages. Mobile World Congress. Retrieved from [https://www.cnet.com/news/facebook-sued-for-allegedly-intercepting-private-messages/ Cnet.com]</ref> They alleged that the information in their supposedly private messages was being read and used to generate profit, specifically "for purposes including but not limited to [[data mining]] and user profiling".

In corporate use of IM, organizational offerings have become very sophisticated in their security and logging measures. An employee or organization member must be granted login credentials and permission to use the messaging system. Creating a specific account for each user allows the organization to identify, track and record all use of their messenger system on their servers.<ref>{{cite web |title=Cisco WebEx Messenger: Enterprise Instant Messaging through a Commercial-Grade Multilayered Architecture |url=http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/ps10352/ps103520/ps10528/Cisco_WebEx_Connect_Security_White_Paper.pdf |accessdate=2015-10-11 |publisher=Cisco.com}}</ref>