Bruce Schneier blog post on using algorithms to spot sociopaths...

[wmu9]

Bruce Schneier (security expert, coiner of the term "security theater") has a blog post on the NSA-style uncovering of sociopaths.

Finding Sociopaths on Facebook

On his blog, Scott Adams suggests that it might be possible to identify sociopaths based on their interactions on social media.

My hypothesis is that science will someday be able to identify sociopaths and terrorists by their patterns of Facebook and Internet use. I'll bet normal people interact with Facebook in ways that sociopaths and terrorists couldn't duplicate.

Anyone can post fake photos and acquire lots of friends who are actually acquaintances. But I'll bet there are so many patterns and tendencies of "normal" use on Facebook that a terrorist wouldn't be able to successfully fake it.

Okay, but so what? Imagine you had such an amazingly accurate test...then what? Do we investigate those who test positive, even though there's no suspicion that they've actually done anything? Do we follow them around? Subject them to additional screening at airports? Throw them in jail because we know the streets will be safer because of it? Do we want to live in a Minority Report world?

http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2013/06/finding_sociopa.html

 

[Tigersoap]

It's not like the NSA would target their own kind anyway :D

To me, it seems much more vital to share the knowledge about psychopathy and how to protect yourself from such individuals instead of relying on some data gathering tool that would decide for us osit.

I don't know but the article starts with some much false premises that it does not help at all.