US government seeks tool to find ‘hidden language’ in messages on your phone

4 hours ago 2

US government seeks tool to find 'hidden language' in messages on your phone | Low-key colorful photo shows hands over eyes

The United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is seeking pitches from tech companies for a forensic tool intended to find “hidden language” in messages on smartphones searched at the border …

The CPB says that it expects companies to propose modified versions of software they already have working, as there isn’t time to devise something from scratch.

Wired spotted the request on a government procurement website.

The agency said in a federal registry listing that the tools it’s seeking must have very specific capabilities, such as the ability to find a “hidden language” in a person’s text messages.

The requirement appears to be for an AI-powered tool.

Able to ingest multiple file types to include standard audio, video, image, text and other file types. Able to identify patterns, connections, and leads in support of investigation and other law enforcement action, specifically border enforcement, activities […]

Help expedite the analysis of data extracted and improve decision making on the ground to further enforcement actions. Example: search a list of text messages to find patterns or “hidden language” in suspect communications that may not be obvious at first look.

The CPB also wants the tool to be able to compare data with that extracted from other devices, or obtained by other means.

Perform data analytics on forensically acquired electronic data including text, images and video. Example: a “red tricycle” appears in different videos acquired from different data sets.

The deadline for submissions is July 10, and says this is an early-stage enquiry for information only, with formal invitations to bid to follow at a later stage.