By: Justin Mauss Privacy vs. Convenience. Agenda Finding the Balance: Privacy vs. Convenience Revisit Privacy vs. Convenience Overview of Online Tracking.

By: Justin Mauss

Privacy vs. Convenience

Privacy vs. Convenience

Agenda

Finding the Balance: Privacy vs. Convenience

Revisit Privacy vs. Convenience

Overview of Online Tracking Methods

Tracking: An Average Day of Surfing the Web

Examine Social Networking Sites

Examples of Tracking and Uses of Consumer Data

Tools to View and Block Online Tracking

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

Let’s say you’re browsing online,

shopping on different sites.

Advertising companies are always there behind the scenes,

collecting lots of information about you.

as if they have a tracking device on you at all times.

They can see what you’re looking at

and where you are.

They follow you across the web, always adding more information to their profile of you.

Based on all they know about you, they can change the ads you see,

and provide different prices than other users based on your spending habits.

You know who else can see all this stuff?

Insurance companies, hiring managers, creditors…

Really, anyone who’s curious.

If you want to stop sharing with people and businesses you don’t know,

but keep using the internet you know & love, you have to do something about it.

Privacy vs. ConvenienceFinding the Balance

• Sharing Information is Voluntary– Twitter = Your Opinions of Current Topics– Foursquare = Your Location– LinkedIn = Past and Current Professional Life– Facebook = Possibly Everything and More

• #1 Social Networking Site: Facebook– Facebook Statistics Video

Social Networking Sites

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKTfCjMsUNc

• Currently Criticized: Information Availability– Strangers– Co-workers/Managers– Professors– Law Enforcement

• Past Studies: Surveys about Privacy

Facebook

• Claimed vs. Observed Information Disclosure on Social Networking Sites

• 131 Participants– Questionnaires about Information Disclosure

on Facebook– Observed Disclosure (Not Facebook Friends

of Participants)

Facebook StudyNelson Mandela Metropolitan University (ICT)

• Categories of Data– Personal identifiable information

• Gender, Hometown, Birthday, Photos

– Sensitive personal information• Employer, School, Relationship Status

– Potentially stigmatizing information• Religious Status, Political Views, Favorite Media


Personal Identifiable Information

Claimed Disclosure Observed Disclosure

Difference between behaviors

Hometown 92% 61% 31%

Gender 99% 91% 8%

Birthday 90% 19% 71%

Birth year 68% 11% 57%

E-mail Address 74% 5% 69%

Address 25% 2% 24%

Profile Photo 100% 97% 3%

Personal Website 13% 2% 11%


Sensitive Personal Information

Claimed Disclosure Observed Disclosure


Employer 18% 13% 5%

Secondary School 77% 68% 9%

University 94% 77% 17%

Current Location 71% 57% 14%

Mobile Number 60% 7% 53%

Friends List 71% 87% -16%

Relationship Status 59% 21% 38%


Potential Stigmatizing Information

Claimed Disclosure

Observed Disclosure


Religious Status 61% 23% 38%

Political Views 42% 10% 32%

Activities 58% 41% 17%

Interests 68% 37% 31%

Gender interest 55% 39% 16%

Language 72% 25% 47%

Personal Description 29% 27% 2%


• Conclusion: Counterintuitive Results– Drastically Different than other Studies

• More Publicly Protected than Thought– From a Stranger Searching Information

• Future Studies include Friend’s View


• Where is the issue?– Privacy too focused on User via User

• Real Attention: Facebook– Centralized Information– Ultimate Control

Social Media Networks

• Why am I being tracked?– Target Advertising– Sell information to others

• Why does it matter?– Unknown Data Retention– If something is free, you are the product

Online Tracking Introduction

• Cookies• Browser History• Beacons• IP Address

How am I Tracked?Four Main Methods

• Cookies (“tag”)– HTTP Cookies

• From Visited Site; Stays on Computer Permanently

– Session Cookies• Functional Purpose; Expires When Session Ends

– 3rd Party Cookies• Mainly Advertising; Tracking Across Many Sites

– Flash Cookies• “Local Shared Objects”; Functional & Tracking


• Browser History– Companies View your History

• JavaScript (CSS)

– Used for Placing in a Demographic– Now Mostly Automatically Blocked


• Beacons– Embedded in Website– Tracks Views, Time, IP Address, Browser– Helps Build your Information Profile


• IP Address• Determine Geographic Location

– Down to the Zip Code

• Track All Connections From Same IP– Easily Identified for Future Visits


• Tracking Service That Can’t Be Evaded– Turning Off Flash Storage– Blocking Cookies– Surfing in “Privacy” Mode

• Used to Track:– Number of Visitors– What Visitors Do on the Site– Other Sites They are Visiting

KISSmetrics Tracking ExampleResearchers at U.C. Berkeley (2011)

• On the Web’s Most Popular Sites– Hulu, Spotify, AOL, Groupon, Microsoft,

Foursquare, Adobe, and many more

• How it is Accomplished:


• KISSmetrics Defended Themselves– Minor lawsuits, but laws & regulations are

playing catch up

• Main Issue: Tough to Block Tracking– Browsers - Advance Privacy Settings– Extra Extensions Need to be Installed


Google+: 21.5%

Twitter: 41.7%

Facebook: 49.3%

Twitter: 10.0%

Google+: 13.3%

Facebook: 24.3%

% Integrated with Official Social Plugins on Homepage

% Integrated with any Social Networking Site Links on Homepage

Top 10,000 Websites

Google #1; Facebook #2; Twitter #10 as of 2/16/2013

Common Method to Aggregate Data

Different Approach Than Other CompanieseBay’s AdChoice

AdChoice Opted Out

AdChoice Service Running

1

• Collusion– Experimental Add-On– Track 3rd Party Companies– Connections between Trackers

and Businesses in Real Time

Average Day of SurfingTool to View Trackers: Collusion

• Visit Sites As Usual (10 Sites)


Uwplatt.edu eBayDiscover PayPayWired GoogleWall Street Journal AppleTwitter Facebook

• Four Different Cases (All Homepage Visits)– Before Anti-Tracking Tools; Not Signed In– Before Anti-Tracking Tools; Signed In– After Anti-Tracking Tools; Not Signed In– After Anti-Tracking Tools; Signed In


CollusionBefore Anti-Tracking Tool; Not Signed In




CollusionBefore Anti-Tracking Tools; Signed In




• Detects Cookies, Web Bugs, Beacons• Trackers over 1,200 Trackers

Tools to View and Stop TrackingGhostery

Tools to View and Stop TrackingGhostery

• Open Source• Blocks Pop-ups, Video Ads, and Banners

Tools to View and Stop TrackingAdblock Plus

• Researchers from International Computer Science Institute in Berkeley

• Focused on Understanding Social Networking Sites– Facebook– Twitter– Google +– LinkedIn

Tools to View and Stop TrackingPriv3

CollusionAfter Anti-Tracking Tools; Not Signed In

CollusionAfter Anti-Tracking Tools; Signed In

CollusionSigned In: Before vs. After Anti-Tracking

• Realistic Issue: Everyone is Tracking• Internet Users Worldwide:

– 2,405,517,376 as of June 30, 2012

• Internet Users Worldwide Actively Using the Top 3 Anti-Tracking Tools: – 28,100,000 as of December, 2012

• About 1.2% Block Major Trackers

Users Need to be Aware

Privacy vs. ConvenienceDecide Your Own Balance

Privacy vs. Convenience Review

Finding the Balance: Privacy vs. Convenience

Revisit Privacy vs. Convenience

Overview of Online Tracking

Tracking: An Average Day of Surfing the Web

Examine Social Networking Sites

Examples of Tracking and Use of Consumer Data

Tools to View and Block Online Tracking

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

Thank you for your time!

Any Questions?

By: Justin Mauss Privacy vs. Convenience. Agenda Finding the Balance: Privacy vs. Convenience Revisit Privacy vs. Convenience Overview of Online Tracking.

Documents

convenience slide

privacy facebook slide

balance slide

sharing information

lots of information

convenience revisit

personal website13

different sites