What Knows? CS 513 2014-2015 Fall Sercan Aksoy Utku Can Yücel WHAT GOOGLE KNOWS: PRIVACY AND INTERNET SEARCH ENGINES Omer Tene
Dec 31, 2015
What
Knows?CS 513 2014-2015 FallSercan Aksoy Utku Can Yücel
WHAT GOOGLE KNOWS: PRIVACY AND INTERNET SEARCH ENGINES
Omer Tene
User Experience!
• For example Google Maps
• Easy-to-use• Free• Shows traffic • Even StreetView
• Nice Experience
Why they need our data?
• Digitizing the real-world Easy with their fancy Technologies.But not efficient
• Project Tango• Project Re-captcha• Project Ingress
make people use their free services improve their business
Information Google collects
• Device information• Log information• Location information• Unique application numbers• Local storage• Cookies and anonymous identifiers
http://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy/
Use of Data
•Who can reach this valuable source?•Google• Third Parties• Third party companies• Goverment• Hackers
Use of Data by Google Search Engine• Larry Page - Founder«The perfect search engine would understand exactly what you mean and give back exactly what you want.»• Eric Schmidt - CEO«If we target the right ad to the right person at the right time and they click it, we win.»• Sergey Brin - Founder«I don't think it's a big deal to show opera glasses to someone searching for binoculars that you somehow infer is a woman.»
Use of Data – Third Parties
• Third Party Companies
• financial institutions• insurance companies• online service providers• government agencies
• Search engines do not sell users' personal data to third parties?• Chilling Effect on Google's business and user trust.
Use of Data – Third Parties
• Government
• national security• law enforcement• prevention, detection and prosecution of crimes• terrorize citizens into conformity and submission
Government
• «Invisible Handshake»Between companies and goverments
• «Visible Handshake»Twitter Ordered to Yield Data in WikiLeaks Case [1]
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/11/technology/twitter-ordered-to-yield-data-in-wikileaks-case.html?_r=3&
Use of Data – Third Parties
• Hackers – Burglars etc.
• Data attract hackers and data thieves• Rogue employees sell data to criminals• Stolen computers of goverment employee
Examples• Hackers obtained visa card information• Recent iCloud hack
Privacy Problem - Aggregation
• Creation of Super-profilesSearch by search, the profile and identity of user become "transparent" over time.
«French mountains»«ski vacation»«Christmas deals»«gift to grandchild» «NY Paris flights»«category D car rentals»«five star hotels disabled access»
Privacy Problems – Distortion
• Information may be highly misleading«assassinate US president»• imply criminal intent?• a student writing a history seminar?
«growing marijuana»• teenager considering use of drugs?• parent concerned with growing drug use?
Privacy Problems – Exclusion
• Identity – Anonymity• 89% believe web searches private, • 77% believe Google Web Search do not reveal their personal identities
• Misguide• Privacy policy• IP -> internet protocol address• 4 Clicks to reveal what is a «Server Log»
Privacy Problems – Secondary Use
• Improve own services• Mining - Use and Reuse of the data
• Future use of their data
• Breach of confidentiality • betrayal of the user giving out information
• Ingress• Expectation -> Real World Role Playing Game • Reality -> Application to Improve Google’s Location Services
Privacy Problems - Chilling Effect
• Increased public awareness • Decreased use of search engines (self-censorship)• "free Taiwan" in China• «Bin Laden 9/11.»
• Data mining in e-mail• Personal usage? • Professional usage?• Indirect usage?
Conclusion
• “Perhaps the most difficult privacy issues in all of human history” Edward Felten, a privacy expert at Princeton University
• Billions of queries stream across Google’s servers each day.
“the aggregate thoughtstream of humankind, online.”
Conclusion
• Users may accept use of their personally identifiable information by a company that offers an amazing service for no apparent cost.
• Huge Data Ocean• Individual rights disapperead
• Protected and Unprotected Data• Redraw the boundaries
References
• [1] Omer Tene, Personal Web Page on Stanford Cyberlaw, http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/about/people/omer-tene
• [2] Tene, Omer, What Google Knows: Privacy and Internet Search Engines (October 1, 2007). Utah Law Review, Forthcoming. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1021490 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1021490 or direct link http://dl.dropbox.com/u/61693506/UTAH_LREV_TENE.pdf
• http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/31/tech/web/gmail-privacy-problems/
• http://blog.ericgoldman.org/archives/2014/07/lawsuit-over-googles-unified-privacy-policy-pared-down-but-two-claims-survive.htm
• http://www.thersa.org/events/video/vision-videos/free-is-a-lie
• http://www.google.com/maps/about/behind-the-scenes/streetview/
• http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/11/technology/twitter-ordered-to-yield-data-in-wikileaks-case.html?_r=2&
• http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/cbw/pdf/imc151-hannak.pdf