Security News > 2021 > September > UK MoD data strategy calls for social media surveillance on behalf of 'local authorities'
The Ministry of Defence has published a data strategy that calls on the British armed forces to make better use of its "Enduring strategic asset" - by spying on social media and dobbing in dissenters to local councils.
In a move bound to fuel tinfoil hat-wearing conspiracy theorists, the MoD's Data Strategy for Defence document [PDF] published this week says the military ought to be carrying out "Automated scanning of social media platforms" to detect "Change in population sentiment."
Nowhere does the document explain why a strategy paper has gone so far off the beaten track that it promotes collecting data the MoD doesn't have and using it for decidedly non-military purposes.
Published alongside the government's space strategy, the MoD data strategy was supposed to be about making good use of information already sitting inside departmental silos, as the ministry has previously acknowledged.
While ambitions to treat data as "Second only to our people" probably ticks a lot of management boxes, the usefulness of the initiative lies buried in its details: "Efficient and effective planning of supply chain and people" is one benefit of focusing on data according to the paper, combined with "Well-curated data, directly enabling information, operations, analysis, analytics, AI and R&D, making it an offensive and defensive weapon".
The strategy document does call for more training in data literacy for military personnel as well as forging new commercial relationships with "Allies and industry" to "Drive innovation."