I guess it was inevitable, but it’s disturbing nonetheless. It has just emerged that so-called “stalking software”, able to track people’s movements and predicting future behaviour, using data from social networking Web sites, has been developed.

According to The Telegraph, the technology has been created by US giant defence contractor Raytheon. The system reportedly uses Web sites such as Facebook and Twitter to build a detailed picture of people’s lives and the technology can supposedly be transformed into a “Google for spies”.

The system is called Rapid Information Overlay Technology (Riot) and concerns are that this could (and probably will) be used by governments as a way of monitoring and controlling people online.

To put your mind at ease though, it has been reported that Raytheon has not sold the technology to any clients (this is a good thing). However, it did happen to share it with the US government back in 2010 (we’re so screwed).

While geo-location-based apps and phone-tracking technology can already be used to track a person’s movements and habits, it seems that Riot will provide a more holistic picture about a person and can more accurately predict future behaviour.

The report in The Telegraph states that a video obtained by the Guardian newspaper reveals how the software system can gather personal information about people – including their friends, interests and the places they visit – from social networking Web sites including Foursquare, a mobile phone app that alerts friends of their whereabouts.

This is of particular concern to Britain, which has recently seen controversy surrounding the proposed Communications Bill that aims to authorise the monitoring of phone calls, e-mails and Internet usage. According to The Telegraph, ministers insist the reforms are vital for countering paedophiles, extremists and fraudsters, but civil liberties activists have attacked the Bill’s scope and branded it a “snoopers’ charter”.

Unfortunately, our government has also in the past shown great interest in monitoring and filtering electronic information – to protect the innocent, of course.

Could we really sleep soundly, knowing that government has access to technology like Riot? Perhaps it’s time to start lying on your Facebook page.

Happy reading!

Martin Czernowalow