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Dr. Ali Jahangiri

private browsing

Excuse Me, There is No Private Browsing!

August 11, 2010 By Ali Jahangiri

From my point of view, there is no privacy as long as a user is connected to the Internet or a public network. Public networks such as the Internet, PSTNs and cellular networks are part of national and international telecommunication networks. These are the channels in which information flows from one side of the world to the other along with radio and satellite communications.

Currently, the Internet is one of the best communication channels available due to its capability, speed and cost. At the same time, it is the perfect place for the criminally minded to commit crimes or play under the radar. Because of this, the Internet is a place where the end-user needs to watch his/her activities and the law enforcement agencies need to watch the end-user. This paradox has created two market segments for software vendors, one to protect the end-user and other to violate the end-user’s privacy.

There are many often contradictory or complementary paradigms in IT security. Tools such as anti-virus, personal firewalls and private browsing functions are common examples of end-user privacy protection. But tools and appliances such as content monitoring systems, network traffic analyzers, data aggregators and cyber forensic tools can be used to violate end-user’s privacy.

The above mentioned tools have been built by engineers and IT practitioners. The functionality and the quality of these tools can be miss-judged, it has been known for engineers to change the functionality of a tool under political pressures by governmental regulatory authorities. But the end-user, who uses these tools or functions to enhance their online security, has no idea about such influences and pressures.

A recent research report about the private browsing functionality of the common Internet browsers is a good example. Millions of users trust the privacy mode on their browser, but the report shows that none of them are functioning at 100%, and it seems that nobody can be held accountable.

Filed Under: Opinion, Surveillance Tagged With: Chrome, Firefox, IE, Privacy, private browsing

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