NeTS: Small: Endpoint User Profile Control

The Internet has transformed from a small non-profit network into a gigantic infrastructure that creates revenues measured in billions of dollars. Unfortunately, this has created an unprecedented pressure on the end user’s privacy, because a user’s profile is used to determine which personalized content (e.g., ads, search results, recommendations, etc) will be served to the given user. It is not a secret that almost every browsing click we make is collected by one or more of numerous information trackers and aggregators associated with various online services. This includes, but is not limited to web sites, ad networks, search engines, online social networks, mobile applications, etc. The common goal of the trackers is to gather a more perfect user profile in an attempt to increase revenues from content personalization. Such user profiling can often be misused. For example, signs of price and search discrimination have been recently reported. Others argue that content personalization, which creates the so-called “filter bubble” effect, has an even more profound impact on the society and in particular on the future of democracy.