Users of the Parler social media platform who participated in the riots last week at the U.S. Capitol are reportedly uneasy following the announcement that several activist hackers archived posts as they were happening in real time during the riots, and that they will release the posts publicly to assist law enforcement with investigations. Another activist hacker is reported to have said that she archived material as it was being posted to show how the platform was used to plan the attack and for communication by participants during the assault.

Parler is reported to have been a popular mode of communication during the months leading up to the election last fall after Facebook and Twitter began reviewing and labeling content that was false or misleading.

One of the activist hackers alleges that she archived 30 terabytes (equal to 30,000 gigabytes) of publicly-available posts of the events leading up to and during the riots so they would be preserved before the platform was taken down, which occurred on Monday.

Some of the data that were archived includes legally-obtained GPS data while posts were made by those participating in the riot. The GPS data show that Parler users were posting videos and pictures while they were inside the Capitol, including both chambers of Congress and offices of some politicians.

Photo of Linn Foster Freedman Linn Foster Freedman

Linn Freedman practices in data privacy and security law, cybersecurity, and complex litigation. She is a member of the Business Litigation Group and the Financial Services Cyber-Compliance Team, and chairs the firm’s Data Privacy and Security and Artificial Intelligence Teams. Linn focuses her…

Linn Freedman practices in data privacy and security law, cybersecurity, and complex litigation. She is a member of the Business Litigation Group and the Financial Services Cyber-Compliance Team, and chairs the firm’s Data Privacy and Security and Artificial Intelligence Teams. Linn focuses her practice on compliance with all state and federal privacy and security laws and regulations. She counsels a range of public and private clients from industries such as construction, education, health care, insurance, manufacturing, real estate, utilities and critical infrastructure, marine and charitable organizations, on state and federal data privacy and security investigations, as well as emergency data breach response and mitigation. Linn is an Adjunct Professor of the Practice of Cybersecurity at Brown University and an Adjunct Professor of Law at Roger Williams University School of Law.  Prior to joining the firm, Linn served as assistant attorney general and deputy chief of the Civil Division of the Attorney General’s Office for the State of Rhode Island. She earned her J.D. from Loyola University School of Law and her B.A., with honors, in American Studies from Newcomb College of Tulane University. She is admitted to practice law in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Read her full rc.com bio here.