Project description
Integrating Technologies for the Fast and Flexible Manufacturing Enterprise
Information age, protecting privacy and identity
Using the internet to book a flight, purchase a book or network with friends may seem like a harmless activity. But in each of these online transactions we leave behind scraps of information about our personal lives that could be misused.
As information technology becomes more pervasive and more powerful, the risks of having our personal privacy violated or, worse, our identities stolen, have increased.
We expose a little bit more information about ourselves every time we fill out an online form, input our credit card number to make a purchase, or let a website store our personal data.
As anyone who has been a victim of online identity theft knows, in the current information age it has become too easy for criminals to join the dots linking our virtual and real lives.
Different IDs for different uses
But what if we could easily use different virtual identities in different situations to keep our true identities anonymous? And what if we could track every piece of personal data we revealed? Those two steps, say a team of European researchers, would greatly enhance privacy.
Working in the PRIME project, the team developed tools to achieve a greater degree of personal security for online users. One feature of their approach is the use of private credentials and digital certificates. These marry the need for accountability – such as proving a person is over 18 to enter some websites – with the need for anonymity.
Once they have been issued with a master certificate from a commercial identity provider, such as online payment operators, users can have different pseudonyms and identities on different websites by creating a number of anonymous sub-certificates for themselves. This ability protects their privacy and also allows issuers to revoke the master certificate if the user abuses the sub-certificates for other ends.
Keeping track of your personal data
The PRIME team also created a way to track what personal information is revealed to whom and a means to ensure the data is being used in compliance with the privacy policy the person accepted.
The project’s Data Track software tool lets people keep a record of what information they put online, just as the web history of a web browser records what websites they visit. The tool also lets the user query how that information is being used at a later date, helping to make sure that a particular website, online store or service provider continues to comply with their own privacy policies.
Sticky privacy policies
In addition, so-called ‘sticky’ privacy policies ensure that the agreement on personal information the person accepted for the website remains attached to their data even if it is passed between different organisations.
The project partners foresee a rapidly expanding market for privacy enhancing technologies, such as Data Track, as the internet starts to be used for an increasing variety of activities.
Such technologies should also help shore up internet users’ confidence in using the web for more activities, thus paving the way for more online services such as e-commerce, and e-government.
Fields of science
Topic(s)
Call for proposal
FP6-2004-IST-NMP-2
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Funding Scheme
STREP - Specific Targeted Research ProjectCoordinator
7034 Trondheim
Norway
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Participants (15)
1210 Wien
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1504 Sofia
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1015 Lausanne
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28359 Bremen
28359 Bremen
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9220 Aalborg
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7190 Billund
19002 Peania
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19002 Peania - Attiki
6000 Kecskemet
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70100 Lod
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20133 Milano
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10043 Orbassano
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7014 Trondheim
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2750 368 Cascais
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