From Sweden, Anti-Spam Tests ask Questions about Human Rights

Springwise.com   
October 12th, 2012

Elvert Barnes/Flickr

By Raymond Neo

Following fast from our coverage of the NotFound project’s campaign to use 404 pages to hold information on missing persons, the Civil Rights Captcha is now using anti-spam devices to test if web users are human by asking them questions about global human rights issues.

Current anti-spam tests often get users to type the word from a distorted image, something that malicious bots aren’t able to do. Using the design of current tests, the Civil Rights Captcha asks respondent to select the correct answer from one of three captcha images, responding to a question about a human rights issue. For example, the test may ask if the torture of civilians in Kosovo makes them feel ‘lively’, ‘frustrated’ or ‘enthusiastic’, or if the first legal gay pride parade taking place in Serbia in 2010 makes them feel ‘infuriated’, ‘great’ or ‘sorrowful’. Users are unable to continue if they do not give the humane response.

According to the Civil Rights Defenders, the charity behind the concept, some 200 million people complete captcha tests each day. With such a large audience, the new captcha hopes to raise awareness of the plight of oppressed and abused people around the world. How else could social causes be fought for in our connected world?

This story originally appeared at Springwise.com.

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