[liberationtech] Columbia XRay web transparency project

[Gregory Foster]

On 8/23/14, 2:01 PM, Gregory Foster wrote:
> https://github.com/matlecu/xray
> 
>> XRay is a research project from Columbia University that aims to
>> improve transparency of data usage on the web. You can learn more
>> on our website.
> 
> http://xray.cs.columbia.edu/
> 
>> ...we developed XRay, a new tool that reveals which data in a web
>> account, such as emails, searches, or viewed products, are being
>> used to target which outputs, such as ads, recommended products,
>> or prices. It can increase end-user awareness about what the
>> services they use do with their data, and it can enable auditors
>> and watchdogs with the necessary tools to keep the Web in check.
>> 
>> Currently, XRay can reveal some forms of targeting for Gmail ads,
>> Amazon product recommendations, and YouTube video
>> recommendations. However, XRay's core mechanisms are largely
>> service-agnostic, providing the necessary building blocks that we
>> hope will enable a new generation of auditing tools that will
>> help lift the curtain on how users' personal data is being used.
>> 
>> Using our XRay Gmail prototype, we found some pretty interesting
>> examples of data uses, such as a number of ads targeting
>> depression, cancer, and other illnesses. We also saw quite a few
>> subprime loan ads for used cars that targeted debt, loan, or
>> borrow keywords in users' inboxes.
> 
> YouTube (Aug 20) - "XRay: web transparency tool": 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxH20ey2d7k
> 
> HT @kdnuggets: 
> https://twitter.com/kdnuggets/status/503198576798089216


"XRay: Enhancing the Web’s Transparency with Differential Correlation"
Presented at the 23rd Usenix Security Symposium (Aug 20-22)
by @matlecu, et. al.
https://www.usenix.org/conference/usenixsecurity14/technical-sessions/presentation/lecuyer
paper:
https://www.usenix.org/system/files/conference/usenixsecurity14/sec14-paper-lecuyer.pdf
slides:
https://www.usenix.org/sites/default/files/conference/protected-files/sec14_slides_lecuyer.pdf

NYT Bits Blog (Aug 18) - "XRay: A New Tool for Tracking the Use of
Personal Data on the Web" by @SteveLohr:
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/08/18/xray-a-new-tool-for-tracking-the-use-of-personal-data-on-the-web/

gf

-- 
Gregory Foster || gfoster at entersection.org
@gregoryfoster <> http://entersection.com/