Author archives

Hana Habib - Graduate Research Assistant at the Institute for Software Research, Carnegie Mellon University.

Private browsing: What it does – and doesn’t do – to shield you from prying eyes on the web

Prof. Lorrie Cranor, Carnegie Mellon University and Hana Habib, Graduate Research Assistant at the Institute for Software Research, Carnegie Mellon University, highlight their research on how many people who use private browsing have misconceptions about what protection they’re gaining. A common misconception is that these browser modes allow you to browse the web anonymously, surfing the web without websites identifying you and without your internet service provider or your employer knowing what websites you visit. The tools actually provide much more limited protections.

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Competitive Intelligence, Internet Trends, KM, Legal Research, Online Legal Research Services, Privacy, Search Engines, Search Strategies, Social Media, Spyware

Website privacy options aren’t much of a choice since they’re hard to find and use

Hana Habib and Lorrie Cranor of Carnegie Mellon University discuss how many sites offer the ability to ‘opt out’ of targeted advertisements, and identify why doing so isn’t easy. They advocate for simplifying and standardizing opt-outs to help improve privacy on the web.

Subjects: Cybersecurity, KM, Legal Research, Privacy, Social Media, Technology Trends