(Financial Times) -- The increasing amount of personal information that can been gleaned by computer programs that track how people use Facebook has been revealed by an extensive academic study. Such programmes can discern undisclosed private information such as Facebook users' sexuality, drug-use habits and even whether their parents separated when they were young, according to the study by Cambridge university academics. In one of the biggest studies of its kind, scientists from the university's psychometrics team and a Microsoft-funded research centre analysed data from 58,000 Facebook users to predict traits and other information that were not provided in their profiles. The algorithms were 88 per cent accurate in predicting male sexual orientation, 95 per cent for race and 80 per cent for religion and political leanings. Personality types and emotional stability were also predicted with accuracy ranging from 62-75 per cent. Facebook declined to comment. The study highlights growing concerns about social networks and how data trails can be mined for sensitive information, even when people attempt to keep information about themselves private. Less than 5 per cent of users predicted to be gay, for example, were connected with explicitly gay groups. Michal Kosinksi, one of the report's authors, told the Financial Times that the university's techniques could easily be replicated by companies to infer personal attributes a person did not wish to share, such as sexual orientation or political views: "We used very simple and generic methods. Marketing companies and internet companies could spend much more time and resources, and hence get much higher accuracy than we did." Last week , the EU agreed to water down proposals for a radical overhaul of data privacy regulation. The move reflects governments' reluctance to impede internet businesses that might spur economic growth, and follows fierce lobbying from technology companies including Facebook and Google. Personal data has become big business. Wonga, the UK online lender, makes credit judgments within seconds based on thousands of pieces of information, including an applicant's Facebook profile. Tesco, the supermarket chain, this month started to use its customers' shopping histories to sell targeted online advertising. The report also revealed some unexpected correlations -- such as people who liked 'curly fries' having higher IQs, while those who like Facebook's "Sliding on Floors With Your Socks On" page were unlikely to use drugs.

Question: "Has Facebook commented on the ability of computer programs that track how people use Facebook to discern undisclosed private information?"

Answer: "Made a comment"

Response: no

Backers of Legal Aid services for the poor are pushing a measure that would increase court filing fees in Kentucky to raise money for the program, which faces steep funding cuts. The proposed bill, sponsored by Rep. Charles Geveden, D-Wickliffe, would double the portion of the fee that goes to Legal Aid -- in district court to $10 from $5 and in circuit court to $20 from $10. Kentucky's current fee for filing a case in district court is $50.50, and in circuit court $108. The increase still would leave Kentucky's filing fee costs below those of surrounding states and would raise about $1.3 million a year -- almost enough to replace what Legal Aid is losing from federal and other sources, said Jamie Hamon, executive director of the Access to Justice Foundation, a state poverty law resource center in Lexington. Geveden said his measure appears to be the only potential source of money for the program, which is being forced to lay off workers and close offices around the state. Geveden said he's concerned because federal funding hasn't increased in recent years, and states with increased poverty are taking a greater share of the money. ''If you don't come up with the money somewhere, legal services to people in need will diminish or go away,'' he said. Hamon said the proposed bill has attracted a number of co-sponsors, and Legal Aid backers are hoping to get it passed in the upcoming legislative session. Hamon said she knows fee increases aren't popular with lawmakers but hopes they realize the crisis Legal Aid is facing. ''A lot of poor people are not going to get served,'' she said. The measure has the endorsement of the Kentucky Bar Association. The association's board of governors voted unanimously last month to back the bill, said KBA President Stephen Catron, a Bowling Green lawyer. Legal Aid ''has been a godsend to a great number of people in this state,'' Catron said. ''We simply must find a way to provide those services to the public.'' Larry York, executive director of Appalachian Regional Defense Fund, which provides Legal Aid services in 37 Eastern Kentucky counties and is a KBA board member, said he hopes the measure is approved. ''It would really offset the current cuts,'' he said.

Question: "Who made the following remark: ''If you don't come up with the money somewhere, legal services to people in need will diminish or go away.""

Answer: "Geveden"

Response: yes

Zinni feared that Bin Laden would in the future locate himself in cities, where U.S. missiles could kill thousands of Afghans. He worried also lest Pakistani authorities not get adequate warning, think the missiles came from India, RESPONSES TO AL QAEDA'S INITIAL ASSAULTS 135 and do something that everyone would later regret. Discussing potential repercussions in the region of his military responsibility, Zinni said, "It was easy to take the shot from Washington and walk away from it. We had to live there." Zinni's distinct preference would have been to build up counterterrorism capabilities in neighboring countries such as Uzbekistan. But he told us that he could not drum up much interest in or money for such a purpose from Washington, partly, he thought, because these countries had dictatorial governments. After the decision-in which fear of collateral damage was an important factor- not to use cruise missiles against Kandahar in December 1998, Shelton and officers in the Pentagon developed plans for using an AC-130 gunship instead of cruise missile strikes. Designed specifically for the special forces, the version of the AC-130 known as "Spooky"can fly in fast or from high altitude, undetected by radar; guided to its zone by extraordinarily complex electronics, it is capable of rapidly firing precision-guided 25, 40, and 105 mm projectiles. Because this system could target more precisely than a salvo of cruise missiles, it had a much lower risk of causing collateral damage. After giving Clarke a briefing and being encouraged to proceed, Shelton formally directed Zinni and General Peter Schoomaker, who headed the Special Operations Command, to develop plans for an AC-130 mission against Bin Laden's headquarters and infrastructure in Afghanistan. The Joint Staff prepared a decision paper for deployment of the Special Operations aircraft. Though Berger and Clarke continued to indicate interest in this option, the AC-130s were never deployed. Clarke wrote at the time that Zinni opposed their use, and John Maher, the Joint Staff 's deputy director of operations, agreed that this was Zinni's position. Zinni himself does not recall blocking the option. He told us that he understood the Special Operations Command had never thought the intelligence good enough to justify actually moving AC-130s into position. Schoomaker says, on the contrary, that he thought the AC-130 option feasible. The most likely explanation for the two generals' differing recollections is that both of them thought serious preparation for any such operations would require a long-term redeployment of Special Operations forces to the Middle East or South Asia. The AC-130s would need bases because the aircraft's unrefueled range was only a little over 2,000 miles.

Question: "What were the two things that Zinni worried about?"

Answer: "Bin Laden would stay where he is"

Response:
no