PRIVACY ARE THE SUBJECT OF A HEAT GLOBAL DEED GLOBAL DEBATE.
>> Reporter: WE ARE ENTERING THE
INFORMATION AGE AND THE INTERNET
IS A GREAT PLACE TO MOVE TONS OF
INFORMATION AT THE SPEED OF
LIGHT.
LIGHT. >> THE FASTEST GROWING PART OF
THE INTERNET IS THE WORLDWIDE
WEB, AN AREA THAT COMBINES TEXT,
GRAPHIC AND PICTURES.
>> WHEN WE WERE WORKING ON THE
WEB IN THE ’90s, WE WEREN’T
THINKING AHEAD TOO FAR.
THE EARLY WEB WAS TEXT AND HYPER
HYPERLINKS.
HYPERLINKS. THEN PEOPLE WANTED IMAGES AND
THAT LED TO AN INVENTED ELEMENT
YOU COULD PUT IN YOUR PAGE BUT
IT REFERRED TO A DIFFERENT
MACHINE BY ITS INTERNET ADDRESS.
IT REFERRED TO YOUR FRIEND’S
SERVER.
SERVER. THEN THE COOKIE CAME ALONG.
YOU COULD THINK OF THAT AS A WAY
OF SAVING INFORMATION IN YOUR
BROWSER FOR EVERY SITE YOU
VISIT.
VISIT. IT WAS MEANT SO WHEN YOU GO TO
YOUR BANK AND SIGN IN, YOU WOULD
NOT HAVE TO SIGN IN EVERY TIME
YOU WENT FORWARD OR BACK OR
STARTED YOUR BROWSER.
BETWEEN THE COOKIE AND IMAGE YOU
HAD A TRACKING SERVER WITHOUT
KNOWING IT.
KNOWING IT. WE DID THIS NAIVELY.
LET’S MAKE THE WEB USEFUL.
LET’S PUT IN COOKIES SO YOU
DON’T HAVE TO LOG IN EVERY TIME.
>> ESSENTIALLY EVERY CLICK,
EVERY ONLINE INTERACTION IS
RECORDED.
RECORDED. NOT JUST RECORDED I ABOUT THE
COMPANY THAT YOU INTERACTED
WITH, THE CREEPIEST PART IS IT’S
BEING RECORDED BY DOZENS,
HUNDREDS, PERHAPS EVEN THOUSANDS
OF SO-CALLED THIRD-PARTIES
ONLINE.
ONLINE. BY FIRST-PARTY, I MEAN THE
WEBSITE THAT YOU THINK YOU’RE
VISITING.
VISITING. THIRD-PARTY IS ANY OTHER ENTITY
THAT’S ON THAT SITE AND
PARTICULARLY NOT VISIBLE.
YOU’RE TYPICALLY NOT AWARE OF
YOUR INTERACTION WITH THEM.
WE HAVE AUTOMATED A COMPUTER
PROGRAM THAT PRETENDS TO BE A
REAL USER AND BROWSES THE WEB.
IT LOOKS AT THE WEB’S TOP 1
MILLION WEBSITES EACH MONTH BUT
IT’S LOOKING AT THE THINGS ON
THE WEB PAGE USERS WOULD NOT
NOTICE.
NOTICE. COOKIES AND FINGERPRINTS AND
VARIOUS OTHER TRACKING
TECHNOLOGIES.
TECHNOLOGIES. >> SO, I STARTED THE TOP 100
WEBSITES.
WEBSITES. IT LOADS ON THE LINGO AND
COLLECTS THE DATA ABOUT
TRACKING-RELATED PRACTICES LIKE
COOKIES, WHAT KIND OF DATA HAS
BEEN TRANSFERRED.
BEEN TRANSFERRED. ALL OF THESE ARE LOGGED INTO A
DATABASE.
DATABASE. MOST COMMONLY THEY WILL JUST
PLACE A COOKIE WITH A UNIQUE
IDENTIFIER SO THEY CAN TRACK YOU
ACROSS WEBSITES.
ACROSS WEBSITES. WHERE WE INTERPERSONAL
INFORMATION SUCH AS EMAIL AND
PASSWORD, AS SOON AS YOU TYPE
YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS, IT WILL BE
COLLECTED AND SENT TO A
THIRD-PARTY.
THIRD-PARTY. IN OTHER CASES THE WEBSITE WILL
FINGERPRINT YOUR BROWSER.
>> IF YOU GO TO ORDER COFFEE AT
THE SAME SHOP, THE BARISTA RISRI
NOT KNOW YOUR NAME UNTIL YOU
GIVE IT TO THEM, THEY RECOGNIZE
YOUR ORDER, THEY RECOGNIZE YOUR
ADDRESS, THEY RECOGNIZE YOUR
HAIRSTYLE.
HAIRSTYLE. THEY ARE IDENTIFYING IN A SENSE
THEY LET SOMEONE PICK YOU OUT OF
THE CROWD.
THE CROWD. >> THE WAY IT WORKS IS THOSE
COMPANIES, THIRD PARTY THAT IS
HIDDEN ON THE SITE SENDS A
SEQUENCE OF COMMANDS TO YOUR
BROWSER THAT CAUSES IT TO DRAW
AN IMAGE, A HIDDEN IMAGE YOU
WOULD NOT KNOW IS ON YOUR
SCREEN.
SCREEN. THE WAY THE BROWSER WILL
INTERPT THE COMMAND WILL BE
DIFFERENT BASED ON THE VERSION
NUMBER, EVEN BASED ON THE SET OF
FONTS INSTALLED ON YOUR
COMPUTER.
COMPUTER. >> WHEN A WEBSITE SAYS, HEY, TRY
TO DRAW THIS LINE, THIS CURVE,
THIS SHAPE, YOUR WEB BROWSER
GOES, GRAPHICS, THAT’S BETTER
FOR THE GRAPHICS CARD AND HANDS
IT OVER TO THE GRAPHICS CARD.
IT DRAWS THE PICTURE WITH SO
MUCH ATTENTION TO DETAIL THAT IF
YOU ASK ANY OTHER GRAPHICS CARD
RUNNING ANY OTHER VERSION OF
SOFTWARE RUNNING ON ANY OTHER
COMPUTER TO DO THE SAME THING,
IT WILL LOOK JUST A LITTLE
DIFFERENT.
DIFFERENT. SO IF YOU ASK THE SAME WEB
BROWSER TO DRAW THE SAME PICTURE
AGAIN, YOU’LL BE ABLE TO
REMEMBER WHO IT WAS WHO DREW THE
PICTURE WITH EXACTLY THOSE
PIXELS AND EXACTLY THOSE PLACES.
>> FACEBOOK, ACTUALLY MAKES A
BROWSER.
BROWSER. IT’S INTERESTING THE WAY IT
COLLECTS IT TO FINGERPRINT YOUR
BROWSER.
BROWSER. >> AGAIN, THIS IS AN INVISIBLE
DRAWING.
DRAWING. YOU WOULDN’T KNOW IT’S GOING ON,
BUT BY DRAWING THAT IMAGE AND
READING IT BACK IS A SEQUENCE OF
PIXELS, IT WILL GET AN EXACT
SEQUENCE OF PIXELS BACK TO
DIFFERENTIATE DIFFERENT USERS.
>> ALL THE WEBSITES YOU VISIT,
HOW MUCH TIME YOU SPEND ON THEM,
YOUR KEY PRESSES, WHAT PART OF
THE PAGE YOU INTERACT WITH, ALL
THESE ARE SENT IN REAL TIME ON A
WEBSITE THAT USES PHISHING.
>> REPLAY IS SOMETHING LIKE A
VIDEO RECORDING OF YOUR BROWSER
SCREEN WHEN YOU’RE BROWSING A
WEBSITE.
WEBSITE. THEY’RE NOT REPUTABLE.
COMPANIES YOU MIGHT HAVE HEARD
YOU.
YOU. YOU DON’T KNOW THEY’RE
RECORDING.
RECORDING. YOU DON’T KNOW WHO WILL GET
ACCESS TO THAT VIDEO.
THIS THAT PROCESS THEY TRY TO
REDACT YOUR PASSWORDS AND CREDIT
CARDS BUT IT’S TECHNICALLY HARD
AND THEY FAIL LOTS OF TIMES.
WE FIND CREDIT CARD INFORMATION,
HEALTH INFORMATION LIKE DRUGS,
PRESCRIPTIONS, STUDENT
PRESCRIPTIONS, STUDENT INFORMATION, ALL OF THAT
SENSITIVE INFORMATION IS GETTING
INTO THE HANDS OF THIRD-PARTIES.
THERE ARE A NUMBER OF EXTENSIONS
YOU CAN INSTALL ON YOUR BROWSER
TO PROTECT YOURSELF AGAINST THIS
KIND OF SNEAKY TRACKING.
PRIVACY BADGER, GHOST READ.
IF YOU INSTALL ANY ONE OF THESE,
THEY’LL DO A PRETTY GOOD JOB OF
PROTECTING YOU FROM MOST, NOT