Google Ventures and In-Q-Tel, the investment arms of Google and the C.I.A., are both backing a start-up company called Recorded Future that monitors activity and text on the Web in real time and uses the information to spot early trends and events. The company also attempts to take current data and model what’s going to happen in the future…

Google is not directly collaborating with the C.I.A., but its actions are likely to cause some unease for those already worried about whether the company can be trusted to protect consumers’ privacy.

We speak with Noah Shachtman, a contributing editor at Wired Magazine and the editor of its national security blog, Danger Room, who broke the story.