Are these dating sites for phsycological profiling for the government?

I was wondering about this for a couple of months now,and I wonder if anybody else does.It would supply a wealth of information for these ''bot'' programs that are supposed to predict what people do in any given situation.Seemingly unrelated information about people can be viewed as a whole to make predictions about what they and others of like mind may do.These ''personality tests''have been available as well.In this day of massive information compiling and subsequent profiling,is this info being used against us?What do y'all think? edited to say:STAR AND FLAG IF YOU LIKE IT!!!I want to see what as many people think on this issue as possible!!!

[edit on 093030p://0417 by daeoeste]

Hmm... that is an interesting question. I can tell you've been on ATS for awhile.. lol

That is an interesting idea. It would seem a lot easier than having to collect intel and analyze a persons communications to profile. If this is the case, I will join these sites and put false info in just to be a thorn in their side.

Originally posted by EagleTalonZ
Hmm... that is an interesting question. I can tell you've been on ATS for awhile.. lol

Actually,I have only been here for about 3 months or so,but I am glad to have piqued some interest.I am looking forward to seeing more peoples thoughts.

Originally posted by ninthaxis
That is an interesting idea. It would seem a lot easier than having to collect intel and analyze a persons communications to profile. If this is the case, I will join these sites and put false info in just to be a thorn in their side.

HA HA HA!!!Right on brother!That's the spirit!And yes,it would be easy.And legal too,if they have some info on their sites stating a disclaimer about them releasing the info to gov.agencies.I wonder.....

Originally posted by daeoeste
Actually,I have only been here for about 3 months or so

Trust me.. 3 months is CERTAINLY long enough to find conspiracies around every corner. I was addicted, and questioning ALL within my first 2 days of joining this place. lol

Anyway.. here's the deal: The government wouldn't necessarily have to notify anyone they were using those sites. I mean, how much do we really know about all the bills that have been passed since 9/11/01. There are a ton that deal with internet security. Not to mention the many bills that now limit anyones' ability to sue or question their right to spy on you. It's bad.

So.. overall.. I do see a possibility in your thread. This could be true. Either way.. I'm sure we'll never know. Unless someone can manage to create an account saying they're Osama Bin Laden, and they enjoy long walks on the beach, petting camels, and spending time with lots of virgins... *ahem* Cuz then of course, you would get a knock knock on your door. Hey.. your first date would be with an FBI agent who has a strange fascination with rubber gloves..

lol... ok, I'm done. Good thread!

Hey, that's an interesting idea... And it's not unlikely. I've thought a little about this before, but only wondering if my info will be seen the FBI or whatever. Dating sites are like social networking sites like Myspace and Facebook, and people have speculated that these sites are used by the FBI or whatever. So yeah, not unlikely. But scary though, although I don't really care if they do see my info lol, I'd just rather live my life and ignore them haha

Wouldn't suprise me if these sites are used for this purpose.

I'm dead sure "Big Brother" is the same. Use your cell phone to "vote" for the person who's personality you agree with.

If they don't use Big Brother for this reason, they must be stupid.

Originally posted by ninthaxis
That is an interesting idea. It would seem a lot easier than having to collect intel and analyze a persons communications to profile. If this is the case, I will join these sites and put false info in just to be a thorn in their side.

I'm as against profiling and data accumulation as the next tin-foil hatter but where your thinking falls down is that much of the information proffered on these sites is actually false. These people, keep in mind people lonely/desperate enough to sign-up for a dating scheme are often not entirely honest, whether it means lying about how much they earn, how much they weigh, what they do for a living, what their interests are and so on.

As far as I'm aware the information proffered isn't legally binding; lying about your income on a dating agency form isn't the same as lying on a tax form. I'm not sure what use any information gleaned would be to any agency outside the actual dating agency as surely it's a given that much of this is going to be a bit 'generous' regarding the truth.

Healthy gym goer: sounds better than a couch potato lard-arse.

Good income: sounds better than what I'm scraping-by on in a fast food place..

Like romantic nights out: that new burger place across the street has a good offer on and I've been itching to see that new alien robot film.

Likes romantic nights in: so, I fill this form in and I might get sex? This is awesome!

Would like children in the future: yeah, the chicks dig that kind of thing.

Indeed people often lie or "misrepresent the truth" on such sites. However, you might wish to consider the psychological tests on job applications, they are still generally untrustworthy, but I'd venture to say they are far more accurate than those of dating sites. Of course for this to be a government conspiracy the government has to procure this information in some way, which would mean taking it from the companies that host and store the info, which is almost certainly a violation of the privacy agreements and would probably require some complacency on the part of the webmasters/datacenter techs. I guess there's still the data-mining angle.

Originally posted by EtSolveMundi
Indeed people often lie or "misrepresent the truth" on such sites. However, you might wish to consider the psychological tests on job applications, they are still generally untrustworthy, but I'd venture to say they are far more accurate than those of dating sites.

I'm not sure what you're trying to say here, other than compounding my own view that dating agency information is pretty worthless as it's unreliable. If it's unreliable, it's of no use at all to any government agency, unless they're compiling a list of people that would like more sex of course!

Originally posted by Merriman Weir

Originally posted by ninthaxis
That is an interesting idea. It would seem a lot easier than having to collect intel and analyze a persons communications to profile. If this is the case, I will join these sites and put false info in just to be a thorn in their side.

I'm as against profiling and data accumulation as the next tin-foil hatter but where your thinking falls down is that much of the information proffered on these sites is actually false. These people, keep in mind people lonely/desperate enough to sign-up for a dating scheme are often not entirely honest, whether it means lying about how much they earn, how much they weigh, what they do for a living, what their interests are and so on.

As far as I'm aware the information proffered isn't legally binding; lying about your income on a dating agency form isn't the same as lying on a tax form. I'm not sure what use any information gleaned would be to any agency outside the actual dating agency as surely it's a given that much of this is going to be a bit 'generous' regarding the truth.

First off,you have mistaken just what I said may be illegal here.I was referring to the company giving this information to the government,not what some person says about themselves. These ''bot'' programs exist along with other information on the individual.and are compared to eliminate misleading info.It is easy enough.Not everyone lies on these tests either.I am not sure even half do,as it would undermine the legitimacy of these sights,which are pretty popular.And I do not where a tin foil hat.These are real issues facing us right now.I do not take offense to this,as it is an irrational pat response to these rational queries.

Well guys you seem to have totally missed another website which probably has a million times more information about you, your friends (how, when and where you met them), your family, where you live, your phone number, pictures of you/mates (labelled too)/family, your favourite colour, your best mates in order of importance to you, what car you drive, who/what you are a fan of, your girlfriend, what tv shows you enjoy, music you enjoy, what political party you are in favour of, what gigs/partys you are going to attend, what University/School you are at (or ever been to), where you work, where you want to work, what food you eat, where you like to eat........ and the lists goes on and on.

Have you guessed yet?

Facebook.

Forget Dating websites lol, they have everything they need to know about you right there And not much chance of lieing either because your close mates/family know when you are.

The government doesn't even need their own databases, everyone has done it for them, willingly.

In my opinion, it is a conspiracy in itself. If you don't have one you are an "outsider" - just as planned. If you treasure your privacy and freedom you shouldn't have a facebook account (I have one to keep track of friends or family with a fake name/picture)

[edit on 27-9-2008 by dodgygeeza]

reply to post by dodgygeeza


I intentionally left these out because they are so obvious.I brought up the dating sites because they are not.I am glad you threw those in there to though.I never had a facebook page,and deleted my myspace page a couple of months ago when I started considering this topic.I know it is impossible to erase the things I said all ready,and other info about me on the w.w.w.,but to me anyway,the less the better.I still have an account here,but this place is too darn cool to pass up.If we start to be afraid of any disclosure,then the terrorists have won,right?

The "terrorists" aren't the ones you should be worried about (I can't tell if you were being sarcastic

Originally posted by dodgygeeza
The "terrorists" aren't the ones you should be worried about

(I can't tell if you were being sarcastic

HA HA,I was in a sense,but more along the lines of who they really are.I think we may be in agreement there.

I still haven't seen what this Facebook site is all about, it won't even let me in without joining. Is it literally, just a place where people post facial portraits and then try to make friends and network, like a yearbook?

However I do know how MySpace is used to gather info, in fact I have used the site myself during paid work hours for a police department, in order to gather information and cross-check things. See my comments here:


www.abovetopsecret.com...

Originally posted by daeoeste

First off,you have mistaken just what I said may be illegal here.I was referring to the company giving this information to the government,not what some person says about themselves. These ''bot'' programs exist along with other information on the individual.and are compared to eliminate misleading info.It is easy enough.Not everyone lies on these tests either.I am not sure even half do,as it would undermine the legitimacy of these sights,which are pretty popular.And I do not where a tin foil hat.These are real issues facing us right now.I do not take offense to this,as it is an irrational pat response to these rational queries.

This doesn't make sense. You are concerned with the company giving the garnered information to the government. Fine. But that, in itself, doesn't make the information either valuable or even legally-binding in the case of not having to tell the truth . Whether it ends up in the government's hands or not means nothing when the problem is in the worth of the information harvested.

You say that perhaps "not even half" lie, but that still makes it a massively poor and unreliable source of information. In a real world scenario, if you knew someone and you was aware that, for example, a third of everything they told you (I use this hypothetical amount to meet your "not even half"), was false or made-up, you'd have no qualms about describing this person as a 'liar', a 'fantasist' and just generally unreliable. If a newspaper's coverage was a third lies, you'd have no problems with describing the newspaper as worthless lies. If a poster on here spent a third of their post count on half-truths and general lies, you'd probably have them on 'ignore' or dismiss them as a troll. I can't see how you think this is any different.

One of the reasons why that these sites are popular is because the people are lonely and desperate for either sex or just companionship and these sites feed on that loneliness by promising that there is someone out there for them. They are looking for hope.

It's generally accepted that people lie on these things, or at least be exceedingly flattering to themselves. They are they to sell themselves and so need to make themselves sound better than they actually are to stand-out as an attractive proposition. It's accepted because so many people actually do it and read adverts knowing that the reality will be slightly different and the people reading the adverts can't complain as they've done the same. In fact, it's so commonplace that's it's become a cliche.

As for the bots, have you any evidence at all to suggest that they're being implemented like this? Yes, bots exist . Yes, they are used nefariously by people harvesting information but there's quite a leap between that and saying that dating sites are using them to monitor people.

What I don't understand is why the need for dating sites at all. If some agency is accumulating data through a dating site knowing that so much of it is going to be junk data and then employing internet bots to compare and confirm with new data - that might be equally worthless or genuinely worthwhile - it seems so unlikely because it seems so inefficient and unnecessary. It would make far better sense and cut out a whole process stage that is known to be unreliable to just unleash some stealthy bots rather than involve dating agencies.