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                   B O S T O N   U N I V E R S I T Y
                                       
                      Computer Science Department
                                       
                          C O L L O Q U I U M

                         Beyond the Welcome Mat: 
             The Privacy Implications of Web Browser Extensions

                          David M. Martin Jr.
                         University of Denver

   		         Friday, October 20
			       3:00 PM 
                       (Coffee served at 2:45PM)
                                       
                         Seminar Room / MCS 135



Computer users are spending more time with their Web browsers, due to
both improved browser technology and industry efforts to provide
first-class support through Web interfaces.  Users are therefore
motivated to customize and otherwise improve their Web browser
experiences through third-partybrowser extensions; at the same time,
these desired extensions are able to monitor and report on users'
behavior within their primary Internet interface. In this talk we
discuss the privacy practices of some common Internet Explorer
extensions.  We find examples of both very good and very bad practices
and recommend strategies for respecting privacy in this sensitive
area.

This research is a project of the University of Denver Privacy Center.
Collaborating with the Privacy Foundation, the Privacy Center
addresses electronic privacy topics from technical, legal, business,
and social perspectives.

Joint work with Richard M. Smith, Michael Brittain, Ivan Fetch, and
Hailin Wu.
 

Host:  Azer Bestavros

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