Facebook uses the technology to monitor chats for certain phrases and words which it believes may indicate something is wrong with the exchange.
Depending on the language, suspicious exchanges will be reported to police, revealed Facebook's chief security officer, Joe Sullivan, to Reuters.
From Bruce Schneier:
In July 2011, a federal appeals court ruled that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) had to conduct a notice-and-comment rulemaking on its policy of using "Advanced Imaging Technology" for primary screening at airports. TSA was supposed to publish the policy in the Federal Register, take comments from the public, and justify its policy based on public input. The court told TSA to do all this "promptly." A year later, TSA has not even started that public process. Defying the court, the TSA has not satisfied public concerns about privacy, about costs and delays, security weaknesses, and the potential health effects of these machines. If the government is going to "body-scan" Americans at U.S. airports, President Obama should force the TSA to begin the public process the court ordered.
A few things you may want to collect and store in case an EMP hits your area and fries all modern electronics:
Old fashioned vacuum tube equipment. You can find vacuum tube radios at yard sales, swap meets and on eBay. Take them to a musical instrument amplifier repair shop to get them fixed (A lot of musicians still prefer tube amps).
Old fashioned crystal radios. They don't need batteries! You could put the components in a box, unassembled, then put them together after the EMP.