If you thought you could protect yourself on the web by lying about your personal details, you'd better think again. In online communication at least, entering untrue details about name or age may no longer prevent others from working out exactly w
who
you are.
Microsoft is developing new software that could accurately guess your name, your age, your address and possibly even your l
lifestyle
.
Many studies show that there is a strong relationship b
between
the websites that people visit and their personalities. For example, 74% of women try to get some information about h
health
medical information online, while only 58% of men do. The software could use a wide series of data details to make a good guess about their ID from a personal browsing history.
So far the software can only guess your age and other information with any accuracy, but the research team says they e
expect
to be able to predict your job, and perhaps your habits one day.
However, Ross Anderson, a computer security engineer at the University of Cambridge, thinks the idea could put Microsoft in big trouble. "I think it h
harmful
if Microsoft were to sell such software widely. It may provide opportunity for someone to make a mistake or even to commit a crime."
