POLL: Should Facebook Monitor Chats for Criminal Activity?

Facebook users who chat often on the social media platform may want to think twice about the discussions they're having. That is, if those discussions fall into what could be considered as "suspicious".

The network, as well as other social media platforms, are now monitoring user chats for potential criminal activity, and subsequently notifying authorities if suspicious behavior is discovered, according to an article this week on Mashable.com.

A new software used by Facebook scans chats for keywords and phrases that could potentially fall into the "criminal" category, and pays more attention to chats between users who don’t already have a well-established connection on the site and whose profile data indicate something may be wrong, such as a wide age gap, according to the report.

Meanwhile, it is not currently known whether the scanned chats are deleted or stored permanently.

So, we're wondering what you readers and social-media advocates in Westwood think about the matter. Should Facebook scan chats to ensure the safety of others? Or is this a breach of privacy? Let us know your thoughts in today's poll and weigh in with comments below.