Group Raises Red Flag on Predictive Technology from Microsoft

Published: June 6, 2007

by Alex Woodie

The press freedom group Reporters Without Borders is blowing the horn on a Microsoft research project in China that is attempting to predict people's race, sex, age, and other demographic. The group fears the technology could be used by the Chinese government to identify dissidents.

Microsoft's research project in China, which was first detailed in the May 6 issue of the magazine The New Scientist, gathers information from people's Web browser's cache and cookies and uses it to make predictions about their race, sex, "geographic origin," and other demographic information. The magazine based its report on a study by Microsoft titled "Demographic Prediction Based on Users's Browsing Behavior." Microsoft reportedly wants to use the technology to deliver better targeted advertising.

However, Reporters Without Borders sees another potential nefarious use for the technology. The technology could be used by Chinese government authorities to identify Internet users who regularly browse Web sites containing news and information that is critical of the Chinese government, the group says. For example, when President Hu Jintao and the Communist Party political bureau met on April 23 to discuss how to improve control over the Internet, they said they wanted to "purify" it, Reporters Without Borders said.

China has very strict laws governing so-called "subversive" content, and is actively seeking ways to block users from browsing the Web anonymously. For these efforts, the Chinese government needs the assistance of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and the big search engine operators, many of which have so far complied with the Chinese government's requests, calling them necessary compromises to reach the huge Chinese populace with their products and services.

"U.S. Internet giants such as Yahoo!, Google, and Microsoft gather fantastic amounts of information about their users," the organization said. "We must be sure that the technologies developed by these companies do not enable repressive regimes to keep their population under more effective surveillance."

The group did credit Google with a policy enacted last month that would protect anonymity on the Internet, and delete IP addresses after holding them for 24 months. Reporters Without Borders chided Microsoft and Yahoo! for not even taking this step.

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