Privacy has all but disappeared in today's data-driven world. Users are too eager to share their data online, and applications aggressively collect and monetize that information. Our goal is to forge a new world; in it, users will be aware of the privacy implications of their online actions, and systems and applications will be designed from the ground up with privacy in mind.
To this end, we design, build, and evaluate new transparency tools that increase users' and privacy watchdogs' visibility into how personal data is being used by applications, and programming abstractions that facilitate the construction of privacy-mindful applications.
Our definition of privacy differs from traditional confidentiality- and secrecy-based definitions, which we do not believe are attainable anymore in today's data-driven world. Instead, our tools and abstractions aim to facilitate and promote a responsible, fair, and accountable approach to user data management. For example, we are building programming abstractions that will help curb today's aggressive and irresponsible data collection practices. We are also building auditing tools that will enable privacy watchdogs, such as the Federal Trade Commission and consumer report agencies, to check that Web applications treat users and their data responsibly and fairly.
Read about our tools and abstractions:
Our efforts have been bootstrapped by an NSF CAREER awarded in 2014 to Prof. Roxana Geambasu, Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Columbia University. Our work is now being funded by that CAREER award, DARPA contract, as well as a number of industrial gifts from Google and Microsoft.