[privacy] Concerns Arise Over Microsoft Research in China into 'Profiling' Inter net Uers

["Fergie" <fergdawg () netzero net>]

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Via Reporters sans Frontières.

[snip]

Reporters Without Borders is worried about a report in the British magazine
The New Scientist that a Microsoft laboratory based in China is carrying
out research [.pdf] on software that can analyse the behaviour of Internet
users with precision and draw up a profile of them (their age, sex,
geographic origin and so on). The US software corporation’s aim is get to
know its users better in order to deliver targeted advertising.

“The technologies Microsoft is working on would allow it to gather
information about Internet users without their knowledge,” the press
freedom organisation said. “These technologies could eventually lead to
the creation of programmes that could identify ‘subversive’ citizens.
This is obviously not Microsoft’s intention. But we believe it is
unacceptable to carry out this kind of sensitive research in a country such
as China where 50 people are currently in prison because of what they
posted online.”

[snip]

More:
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=22379

- - ferg

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--
"Fergie", a.k.a. Paul Ferguson
 Engineering Architecture for the Internet
 fergdawg(at)netzero.net
 ferg's tech blog: http://fergdawg.blogspot.com/

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