Penn professor’s computer algorithm could fight terrorism while protecting privacy

Professor Michael Kearns, national center chair in the Department of Computer and Information Science, just published a paper on a computer algorithm that can use the structure of social networks to target certain individuals or groups — without compromising the privacy of people who are not involved. The algorithm would come with many applications, but Kearns is currently most interested in potential for counterterrorism.

“It’s an algorithm to use the social network to guide the search for some targeted subpopulation, which in the case of the NSA you can think of as some group of terrorists or other bad actors,” Kearns said.

If created, this algorithm could have major implications for the political scene, particularly after former CIA member Edward Snowden’s revelations of the information that the government has kept secret from the public. The algorithm is possibly the only solution developed so far to find a middle ground between national security and personal security.

Source: The Daily Pennsylvanian – | Penn professor’s computer algorithm could fight terrorism while protecting privacy