Internet's Many Eyes: Third Party Tracking and Socially Responsible Design of Applications and Services

Title: Internet’s Many Eyes: Third Party Tracking and Socially Responsible Design of Applications and Services

Speaker: Dr Natasa Milic-Frayling is a Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research Cambridge (MSRC). She is setting research directions for the Integrated Systems Group, focussing on new paradigms for digital content management and analysis, communication and social interaction.

Abstract: Internet advertisers reach millions of customers through practices that involve real time tracking of users’ online activities. The tracking is conducted by third party ad services engaged by the Web sites to facilitate marketing campaigns and gathering of service analytics. At the same time, the applications that facilitate interaction with services, such as commonly used Internet browsers, reveal little or no information about the information flow between the devices and services. That leaves the consumers with no insight about the breadth of digital footprints they leave while interacting with services and no understanding of how that data is exploited. In the broader context of privacy and cyber-security, it is important to consider methods and computing designs that empower consumers to make well informed decisions and take actions that keep themselves and other safe.

We outline a research agenda that investigates several aspects of this problem area. That involves (1) characterizing the tracking ecosystem and the value exchange within it, (2) understanding of the users’ attitudes, behaviour, and awareness of the tracking practices, and (3) considering the designs of applications and services that support the current state of affairs. We discuss the findings of three studies that investigate some of these issues. While they motivate us to think of alternatives to the privacy invading advertising practices, they also urge deeper questions about the principles of design and comprehensibility of computing systems.

Refreshments afterwards in The Hub, Computer Science Building.