Patent ID: 8775605

Claim:
A method, comprising: obtaining, by a system comprising a processor, seed information, wherein the seed information comprises privacy profile settings of one of on-line social network users or groups of on-line social networks; comparing, by the system, the seed information to a random population of on-line social network users, resulting in a comparison; reducing, by the system, a sampling size of a total population of on-line social network users according to the comparison of the seed information, resulting in a reduced sampling of on-line social network users; comparing, by the system, the reduced sampling of on-line social network users to one of a social graph, a generalized profile of on-line social network users determined from the total population of on-line social network users, or a combination thereof; determining the social graph from a Metropolis-Hastings Algorithm applied to an on-line social network of the on-line social network users or groups of on-line social networks; and identifying, by the system, an outlier in the reduced sampling of on-line social network users based on relationships between the on-line social network users, wherein the outlier does not conform to one of the social graph or the generalized profile of on-line social network users for use by equipment of a law enforcement agency.