Concerns Over Microsoft's Internet User Profiling

jcatcw writes "Microsoft research on Internet user profiling could lead to tools that help repressive regimes identify anonymous dissidents, the Reporters Without Borders advocacy group warned last Friday. Microsoft's new algorithms correctly guessed the gender of a Web surfer 80% of the time, and his or her age 60% of the time. "In China, it is conceivable that this type of technology would be used to spot Internet users who regularly access such 'subversive' content as news and information websites critical of the regime," the group said."

Comments

The Usual Suspects

[blueZhift]

This reminds me of the scenes in Casablanca where the police are told to round up the usual suspects. Ultimately the accuracy doesn't matter to the government anyway. Worldwide, I think we are moving in a direction of less freedom rather than more, spearheaded by wrong-headed anti-terrorism hysteria in the US. So why should they care about accuracy, they'll just round up whoever fits the profile and sort it out later, or not.

Re:Poor accuracy

[reddburn]

80% and 60% are both actually very poor accuracies. I wouldn't be worried; this won't be taken seriously as any type of reliable profiling. It depends on the context. If you were talking baseball, it'd be a pretty damn good batting average. It's also good enough to get a warrant, and good enough for a grand jury to indict, and those latter two are what should worry you.

Re:If you were a totalitatian regime

[ozmanjusri]

It's going to be a cold day in Hell when a totalitarian regime starts relying on Microsoft to do the spying for them.

You reckon? http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/artic le/2007/01/08/AR2007010801352.html

Re:O Rly?

[Hatta]

First things first: why China?

Exactly, there's just as much reason to be afraid of these things in oppressive first world regimes. The US government is already getting some websites to turn over their user lists. How long until they talk Microsoft or Google into giving them access to their data mining facilities? If they can get 80% accuracy, well that's probable cause, and that will get them a warrant for a search. Eventually we'll all have to be very careful what we search for, lest we end up on a list somewhere.