Ca n’t wait for 4 deoxyguanosine monophosphate to become the ubiquitous criterion for mobile communicating ? On the edge of your seat for the unveiling of Microsoft ’s secret Menlo Project and Greenfield program ?
You ’re not the only one view the ontogeny of these and other newfangled technologies with rapt attending . According to aninternal FBI document(.pdf ) , the law enforcement office has a dandy interest in appraise each new technology for its surveillance possibilities and challenges .
The FBI fears , for good example , that 4 gigabyte will require federal agency to “ administer with importantly higher information rates than in current wireless meshing intercept , ” allot to the document . “ manage this ‘ fire hosepipe ’ of data point is complicated by the lack of buffering or dependable speech requirements . … These higher data rates could direct a not bad accent on the filtering of data point to place specific content . ”
To intercept VoIP , or voice - over IP dealings , in this environment , “ spokesperson package will necessitate to be press out from the packet watercourse in near real - meter , ” the document say .
The text file was obtained by the Federation of American Scientists through a FOIA request . The unclassified document is a ready to hand primer on all of the latest wireless technology , presumably to help FBI engineers get up strategies for circumventing any surveillance obstacles the technologies might put . Each technology subdivision include a give-and-take of the potential challenges to surveillance , but most of these discussions were redact by the FBI before releasing the document . The document covers net neutrality , 4 G , public Wi - Fi , namelessness service like Tor , and cloud storage and file - sharing services such as Dropbox , SpiderOak and SugarSync .
Other ways 4 K could bear on interception are still unclear , the papers states , because standards are still in development and vendor plans for deploying the technology are “ not be intimate in detail . ”
On the other hand , the FBI is likely excited about the novel opportunities for surveillance and evidence - assembly that Microsoft ’s newfangled Greenfield software program might bring home the bacon . Greenfield is reportedly an“activity - base navigation ” systemfrom Microsoft Research that will be able to track a telephone set user ’s movements through a suite of detector on the roving phone , let a trail to be gather indoors , where GPS trailing does n’t reach .
The sensors let in an accelerometer , a reach , and a barometric imperativeness sensing element to assess height . Using information collect from these , Greenfield will evidently be able to track a user ’s step and even count the floors the user traveled by step or elevator . The app will lay in the data so the user can trace his footsteps to find a mislaid auto in a car park or transmit it to someone else to help an injure wilderness hiker , for example , lead rescuers to his exact locating .
The data could also , however , be subpoenaed by law enforcement agentive role to cover the movements of a defendant . “ This sort of information is terrific for convict people and terrific at discharge the great unwashed , ” concord to a news story the FBI papers quotes .
There ’s also a fascinating description of a twist called Slurp ( see below ) that was germinate by a former MIT Media research laboratory bookman . The gadget resemble a enceinte eye dropper , and use infrared ports to reserve a user to easily slurp up ( excerption ) and squirt out ( inject ) data from one gadget to another . The user tint the eye dropper to a data file icon on a computer cover to slurp up the file , and then betoken it at a 2nd display while squeeze the dropper to eject the filing cabinet back out .
Because of the machine ’s low and invisible design , the text file notes , the “ routine of capturing or transferring data may go undetected . ”
The document also discusses “ human area web ” technologies that employ the human body as a web sender , which could prove a useful replacement for the old - school “ brush pass along ” method acting of extend intelligence between spies .
“ In the future , conventional spokesperson - to - voice career and datum carry-over methods may no longer be required to buy the farm data to a person or a gadget , ” the FBI papers notes . “ Devices that are based on HAN technology allow mass to pass along and initiate project with a simple handshake , tap on the arm , or by place a hand over a sensor . ”
In a show of sarcasm , the written document holds an uncharitable view of another cutting edge technology : an Apple patent of invention for a “ killswitch ” that use voice and facial recognition to shutdown an iPhone or its datum if the gadget discover that the soul using it is not the lawful proprietor . The FBI calls Apple ’s conception “ Big Brother - ish ” .
photograph of HTC 4 G phone by Jon Snyder / Wired.com
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