Coconote
AI notes
AI voice & video notes
Export note
Try for free
Privacy Preservation in Technology
Aug 18, 2024
🃏
Review flashcards
CS50's Introduction to Cybersecurity
Instructor
David J. Malan
Lecture Focus: Preserving Privacy
Main Topic
: How to preserve privacy in everyday technology use.
Overview
Previous weeks focused on securing accounts, data, systems, and software.
Focus on keeping communications secure between points A and B.
Today’s focus: technologies underlying software, apps, and more for future use.
Aim: Empower with mechanisms to restrict information sharing.
Topics Covered
Web Browsing History
Browsers track web history for features like autocomplete and finding past pages.
Privacy concern: others can access browsing history.
Options: clear browser history, but this can be heavy-handed (logs you out of accounts).
Server Logs and Tracking
Websites typically log visits for diagnostics, auditing, advertising, analytics.
Information logged: IP address, timestamp, requested resource, referrer, user agent.
Users can’t control server-side logs.
HTTP Headers
Referrer Header
: Reveals the previous page visited.
Useful for analytics but invasive.
Can be moderated by websites using meta tags or headers.
User Agent Header
: Identifies browser, version, OS.
Contributes to user fingerprinting.
Fingerprinting
Technique to create a user profile based on browser characteristics.
Factors: IP address, user agent, screen resolution, installed fonts, time zone, plugins/extensions.
Even if not logged in, fingerprinting can track users across sessions.
Cookies
Session Cookies
: Maintain session state, expire when browser closes.
Tracking Cookies
: Used for persistent tracking (e.g., Google Analytics).
Third-Party Cookies
: Allow companies to track users across multiple sites.
Tracking Parameters
Parameters in URL used to track users (e.g., click_id).
Browsers and software starting to strip such parameters.
Solutions and Mitigation Techniques
Private Browsing
Incognito mode to prevent local history accumulation.
Doesn’t prevent all server-side tracking.
Super Cookies
Injected by ISPs for tracking, not visible client-side.
Solution: Always use HTTPS.
DNS and Privacy
DNS requests are typically unencrypted and reveal the domain accessed.
Solutions: DNS over HTTPS (DoH) or DNS over TLS (DoT).
VPNs (Virtual Private Networks)
Encrypts data between user and VPN server.
Changes perceived IP address.
Doesn’t prevent all tracking (e.g., fingerprinting).
Tor (The Onion Router)
Provides privacy by routing traffic through multiple nodes with layered encryption.
Increases difficulty of tracking, doesn’t guarantee anonymity.
Permissions
Increasingly fine-grained controls in OSes for app permissions (e.g., camera, location).
Important to manage for privacy preservation.
Summary
Discussed securing accounts, data, systems, software, and preserving privacy.
Emphasis on understanding and using technologies for security and privacy.
Encouragement to be proactive about privacy in personal and professional contexts.
📄
Full transcript