His report for the government on progress so far reveals that counter-terrorism investigators may soon have powerful artificial intelligence and behavioural analysis tools, similar to those used by Facebook, to assess masses of data. Areas where it could be used include buying a flight, financial data and the hiring of vehicles. Up until now it has been thought that Islamist terrorism generated far more plots and far more work for counter-terrorism investigators. But a plan to share information with councils and local police about suspects, especially former suspects whose case has been closed, has run into problems, partly because of cuts to key local services. Anderson said: “Some local authority representatives cautioned against unrealistic expectations of services such as mental health and community safety.

Source: The Guardian June 11, 2019 13:41 UTC