The case for studying stylometric deanonymisation as surveillance tech

Abstract

The proliferation of stylometric deanonymisation technologies and their implications for both privacy and the structuring of power in societies deserve acute examination. Stylometry, the study of linguistic style, is posited as a potential tool in the deanonymisation processes which could threaten anonymity in public digital communications. The piece discusses how advances in AI may enable this technology to identify individual authors of anonymized texts based on linguistic patterns, thus facilitating surveillance and impacting democratic and totalitarian regimes differently. Furthermore, it speculates on the potential of an “unsurveillable” society, highlighting the contradiction between the desire for privacy and the efficacy of surveillance technologies, accentuated by stylometric analysis. The article also emphasizes the role of international and governmental actors in the dissemination and utilization of surveillance technology, suggesting that strategic outcomes could be influenced by such technologies, thus necessitating a nuanced analysis of technological solutions aimed at preserving privacy. – AI-generated abstract.