A new startup out of Britain could be the United States’ next step into monitoring suspicious activity if Donald Trump is elected president. OnData.io uses artificial intelligence to find malicious intent in internet activity. It can be used to spot and monitor jihadi content and other terrorist-related factors.
In the Eyes of People Like Donald Trump, Anyone Can Become An ISIS Member
The bad sides of encryption have been very much highlighted in 2015. With the triumphant victories of Edward Snowden also came threats and attacks from ISIS. There have been connections made between encrypted messaging and communication services and ISIS. Most recently, the San Bernardino shooting in California was reported to have expressed support of jihadists prior to their attack. This claim was disproved by the FBI, but it has not brought any kind of relief to the public. In fact, the public is in a higher state of panic thanks to these claims, unfounded or not.
OnData.oi Identifies People ‘At Risk’ of Becoming Radicals
By going through users’ browsing history, this software can identify anyone who is engaging in dangerous or suspicious activity. Other services flag websites with pornography or content that is deemed unwanted by the user, but this software infers intent instead of blocking bad websites.
According to their website, the company looks to aid government organizations and companies from around the world in finding suspicious activity in their servers. The intention is to nip any chance of jihadism spreading in the bud. It can also actively search for people looking for adult or child pornography.
This Software Hopes to Help Universities and Schools Spot Potential Threats
OnDat.io has set its missions to help spot jihadists and alert authorities. They hope to be able to help educational institutions spot students most likely to join the Islamic State or ISIS. It’s also looking to help transportation and energy infrastructure companies find any jihadi empathizers in their staff.
This would be particularly beneficial government organizations and intelligence agencies in finding people who are likely to engage jihadist or terrorist activity. The software, launched December 15, created an algorithm that combs through internet browsing history to find ISIS propaganda at scale and in real-time.
This New Algorithm Can Analyze TBs of Data in Seconds
OnData.io founder, Stefan Hunt, released a statement saying that the Islamic State has used many of the internet’s resources to spread their hateful beliefs. It has been successful so far. It is now time for the whole world to take action against them. This new software can create cybernetic challenges to these efforts. Hopefully, it can create an even ground for attack and defense by spotting people at risk of becoming radicals. The company is privately owned and independently operated. It will bring many changes to the way artificial intelligence has been used so far.
How Will ‘Inferring’ Radicalism Help the Cause?
A closer look at the company’s press release raises some doubts. How exactly will this artificial intelligence ‘infer’ the risk of people becoming jihadists? Algorithms can be very powerful, but they can also act as a double-edged sword. If this algorithm is to work correctly, it will be able to distinguish between people becoming informed on the Islamic State rather than looking to join. The most alarming thing about this company’s intentions is that it takes a radical approach to handling terrorism. While the algorithm will alert authorities of suspicious activity, but will it be putting innocent people out of a job, making them outcasts?
The Line Between Intent and Action is Very Blurry, But Donald Trump Can’t See That
As the company develops, the conversation highlighting the difference between looking up ISIS and engaging in jihadist activity will come up. The difference between making harmless web searches and actually grabbing guns and killing in the name of Allah are two very different things. As the dialogue on ISIS becomes more and more heated, surely this line can be clearly drawn.
Meanwhile, we can expect the likes of Donald Trump getting his hands on software like this if he is elected president. After last nights’ GOP debate spent much of the air time discussing terrorism, any of the political candidates would be delighted to implement a software like this into the mainstream internet.
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