Microsoft dating software
By Techgirl

And I always thought that Microsoft was one of those solid, cashed up companies which produced reliable software but never pushed the boundaries the way tech companies like Apple, Facebook and Twitter do.  A solid company but a bit boring.

Well, I was wrong!  Wrong as in “Its not you it’s me”.  Microsoft has filed a patent with the US Government that uses a cutting edge algorithm to match single people based on their interests which they are too sheepish to put on dating sites.  In India, the matrimonial websites also double up as dating sites. 

The Microsoft abstract of the patent applied for reads: “The claimed subject matter relates to an architecture that can leverage private affinities in order to facilitate or enrich relationships between people. In particular, the architecture can receive a profile associated with a user wherein the profile includes a set of private affinities that are cryptographically protected from public inspection. The architecture can decrypt and/or cryptographically compare a private affinity from the profile to an affinity in a disparate profile (associated with a disparate user) in order to identify a matching affinity. Once a matching affinity is identified, a message indicating such can be provided to the user along with a request to publish certain revealed information to the disparate user, possibly based upon a mutual exchange of commensurate information from the disparate user.”

Microsoft uses an example of how a person may be shy about revealing they still read Amar Chitra comics, but if this interest is put in the dating profile but not publicly shown, Microsoft’s software will match her with a guy who likes the comics as well. 

Microsoft describes it as “Most users of such conventional systems understand that any affinity (or other information) included in an associated profile or space can be viewed by any third party who accesses that profile. This situation can substantially serve as a chilling effect on self expression or at least result in a profile that is a less accurate or less comprehensive representation of the associated user. For example, an ambitious professional is not likely to divulge that he likes, say, comic books, even though quite true. Appreciably, certain affinities especially those relating to fringe interests, eccentricities, or topics about which there is a common misconception or very little mainstream familiarity or understanding are generally omitted rather than included in conventional descriptions. Typically, this is so because these affinities might be a source of shame or embarrassment or incur undue explanation. Thus, certain cautious or prudent users may forego detailing an affinity that is not politically correct or one that might easily be taken out of context by others or virtually any affinity that can be the source of the slightest bit of embarrassment or conflict with a desired image. “

Techgoss note:  Techgirl is a senior Tech journalist who reports on the IT, KPO and KPO Sectors for a leading media house.  In her spare time, she dabbles in satire in her blog techgirltalk.blogspot.com.  Techgirl has been ejected from Twitter for satirizing an Indian Minister.  Her satire blog has links to her Times of India interview detailing her being kicked out of Twitter, and then being invited back.