Privacy on the Internet has recently become something akin to an oxymoron. It takes a great deal of effort and time for users to maintain their privacy while they are surfing through Web sites. CDT is committed to helping users find ways to maximize their privacy online and still enjoy the Internet. Privacy enhancing technologies are those software programs or hardware devices or even publications that can help a user regain some of their privacy that has been lost on the Internet.
There are many difference privacy enhancing technologies available to Internet users. Certain programs allow users to manage the Cookies that web sites place on their hard drives. Others provide the ability to surf on the Internet anonymously so that advertisers cannot track a user's shopping habits. These tools can help users maintain their privacy while on the Internet by taking full advantage of the technology.
On June 21, 2000, major Internet companies offered the first public demonstration of a new generation of Web-browsing software designed to give users more control over their personal information online. The new products are based on the Platform for Privacy Preferences Project (P3P), a set of software-writing guidelines developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the standard-setting body for the Web.
P3P is designed to provide Internet users with a clear understanding of how personal information will be used by a particular Web site. Web site operators will be able to use the P3P language to explain their privacy practices to visitors. Users will be able to configure their browsers or other software tools to provide notifications about whether Web site privacy policies match their preferences. Parents will also be able to set privacy rules that govern their children's activities online. Once Web sites and Internet users can better communicate about privacy, consumers will be able to make better judgments about which Web sites respect their privacy concerns.
P3P is a standard or specification currently under development at the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). That specification, when implemented in Web sites and browsers, will bring a measure of ease and regularity to Web users wishing to decide when and under what circumstances to disclose personal information.
On a P3P enabled Web site, a company's privacy policy is translated into a machine-readable format that a browser decodes in order to figure out what the policy says. That information can be relayed to the user and the user can then decide whether they would like to continue into the site or not. While this does not offer privacy protection, if implemented, it could greatly advance transparency and be used to support efforts to improve privacy protection.
CDT has created a searchable, browsable directory of privacy enhancing and other tools. Many of the available software programs and informative web sites are catalogued in CDT's Resource Library. Specific privacy enhancing technologies are available in the Privacy Tools section of the library.
Proxies and Firewalls
Proxies and firewalls are barriers between a computer and the Internet. Communications are only allowed under certain circumstances and certain types of communications can be blocked entirely. There are two main types: third party proxies (i.e., "Anonymizer" services, described below) and software loaded on the user's computer.
The proxy computer can be set up to block communications such as cookies, junk e-mail, Java, ad banners, the types of communications used by intruders attempting to hack into computers, and others. Several software products allow you to set up personal firewalls that depend on your preferences. For example, you may set up "rules" to block all cookies from a certain domain or reject communications from a specified e-mail server.
Anonymizers
The private sector has developed Internet tools that strip out personal information in order to protect user privacy. Anonymizing services allow you to browse the Internet using an intermediary to prevent unauthorized parties from gathering your personal information.
Cookie Management
An Internet "cookie" is a unique piece of text that your browser saves and sends back to a Web server when you revisit a Web site. Cookies contain information such as log-in or registration data, online "shopping cart" selections, user preferences, Web sites you have visited, etc. Management programs help you know what is going in and out of your browser.