ATLANTA -- It's not too easy to sneak around anymore. The former head of the CIA learned that the hard way. The scandal unfolding in Washington has raised questions about how 'secret' is secret.
The same technology that may help people hide things may also put a spotlight on their inappropriate activity.
"Absolutely, we can use the technology to look into images and video and monitor text."
Mitch Butler helped co-found a company called ImageVision to ferret out obscene images and text. That technology which can identify and block inappropriate communications was originally motivated by a desire to protect his daughter.
"Walking through the kitchen, phone vibrates and I turn it over and Johnny had sent a little text message with his 'johnson' to her and about 9 other girls," Butler said while in Washington this week to demonstrate his software.
"If we know what we need to go look for, we write the algorithms to identify that."
The algorithms can seek out nudity, body parts, obscene text or other selected words and images.
"A human could maybe look at 5 thousand images in an hour. One server, with our software, 700 plus thousand images in an hour," he said.
He demonstrated the technology while sending images and texts from one cell phone to another and showed how the content could be flagged and blocked.
National cell carriers, social websites like Facebook and even the U.S. government is talking to Mitch about his software.
When it comes to content he says he's 'agnostic'. It's up the user how they want to use his software. That could mean companies giving employees cell phones with embedded detection software on them or cell carriers setting it up on severs in or to cater to customer preferences.
Whether it be images or text.
"They may want it fuzzied out, they may want it x'd out, they may want an email alert," Butler said.