CIA Behind Automated Chat Room Spying Scheme

[hangloose]

Dec 12 - Documents obtained by a public interest research center show that the US Central Intelligence Agency and the National Science Foundation collaborated to fund researchers developing software to electronically spy on Internet chat rooms.

The documents, obtained by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) through a Freedom of Information Act and reviewed by The NewStandard, show that $157,673 was awarded to researchers Bulent Yener and Mukkai Krishnamoorthy to fund the development of chat room surveillance software. That document includes information about the project -- conducted under the auspices of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York -- the objective of which is described as the establishment of a "fully automated surveillance system for data collection and analysis in Internet chat rooms to discover hidden groups."

The document further explains that surveillance will determine what is being discussed in various chat rooms, who is discussing those topics, and if the topic is "hot" in a particular chat room. "Thus, the proposed system could aid the intelligence community to discover hidden communities and communication patterns in chat rooms without human intervention," the document states. The description goes on to explain that the "award is supported jointly by the NSF and the Intelligence Community."

Another document obtained by EPIC through the Freedom of Information Act is a "Memorandum of Understanding" between the National Science Foundation and the CIA outlining a "jointly funded research initiative" to "encourage long-term high-risk research approaches to scientific research in support of the nation’s fight against terrorism."

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http://newstandardnews.net/content/?action=show_item&itemid=1307

[Trajan]

1. Frankly ....

There is next to nothing that can be done about this .... Chat rooms are autonomous structures that allow ANYONE in ... including creeps ... including peace officers ....

Kinda like your trash can placed on the curb ....

[nashville_brook]

3. this doesn't offer very much advantage, anyway

just b/c people use the words "al Queda" or *terrarizm" or even their SSN in a line of text in a chat room doesn't mean that's *usable* information to anyone. if you are ass-deep in evil-doin's enough for that to be usable information to anyone, you probably have alias's and untraceable IP addresses. the only people this should worry is 12 year-old script kitties who would be better served spending their youth looking at porn, anyway.... :)

boy, i'm in a mood...

[Cronus Protagonist]

2. There's a reason AOL and CIA work so closely together

And it ain't to protect our freedoms.




http://brainbuttons.com/home.asp?stashid=13
Buttons for brainy people - educate your local freepers today!

[Liberty Belle]

4. Hi guys! Overhear any good gossip hear yet?

We might as well be friendly to Big Brother, since he's part of the gang here now.

[niyad]

6. as I used to tell the "boys" while they were listening in on ship's

conversations, "if I had anything to say that was of the slightest interest to you guys, I WOULDN"T be saying it on these phones"

or now, chat rooms

[Lefty48197]

5. Great, now they're gonna know who I date

.