Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Measuring Privacy Disclosures In Url Query Strings, Andrew G. West, Adam J. Aviv

Andrew G. West

Publicly posted URLs may contain a wealth of information about the identities and activities of the users who share them. URLs often utilize query strings (i.e., key-value pairs appended to the URL path) as a means to pass session parameters and form data. While often benign and necessary to render the web page, query strings sometimes contain tracking mechanisms, user names, email addresses, and other information that users may not wish to publicly reveal. In isolation this is not particularly problematic, but the growth of Web 2.0 platforms such as social networks and micro-blogging means URLs (often copy-pasted from web …

On The Privacy Concerns Of Url Query Strings, Andrew G. West, Adam J. Aviv

Andrew G. West

URLs often utilize query strings (i.e., key-value pairs appended to the URL path) as a means to pass session parameters and form data. Often times these arguments are not privacy sensitive but are necessary to render the web page. However, query strings may also contain tracking mechanisms, user names, email addresses, and other information that users may not wish to reveal. In isolation such URLs are not particularly problematic, but the growth of Web 2.0 platforms such as social networks and micro-blogging means URLs (often copy-pasted from web browsers) are increasingly being publicly broadcast.

This position paper argues that the …

Balance Or Trade-Off? Online Security Technologies And Fundamental Rights, Mireille Hildebrandt

Mireille Hildebrandt

In this contribution I argue that the image of the balance is often used to defend the idea of a trade-off. To understand the drawbacks of this line of thought I will explore the relationship between online security technologies and fundamental rights, notably privacy, non-discrimination, freedom of speech and due process. After discriminating between three types of online security technologies I will trace the reconfiguration of the notion of privacy in the era of smart environments. This will lead to an inquiry into the metaphor of the scale, building on the triple test regarding the justification of the limitation of …

Introduction To The Value Of Personal Data, Mireille Hildebrandt, Kieron O'Hara, Michael Waidner

Mireille Hildebrandt

This Chapter provides an introduction to and overview of the 2013 Yearbook of the Digital Enlightenment Forum, on the subject of the value of personal data. It discusses why we should care about the current monetization of our personal data and raises the issue of whether and, if so, how user-centric personal data ecosystems help to rebalance power asymmetries between individual citizens and large Personal Data Processing Systems.

Profiles And Correlatable Humans, Mireille Hildebrandt

Mireille Hildebrandt

In this chapter I discuss some of the crucial implications of profiling practices for identity, legal subjectivity, democracy and rule of law. To this end I will attempt to answer (or at least raise) the question if and how the information and/or knowledge generated by these technologies can be made justiciable. First I will explain what is meant by the term profiling practices (section 2). Second I will discuss the purposes and some of the effects of the type of knowledge these practices produce (section 3). Third I will indicate in what ways profiling technologies produce a new type of …