This Browser Plug-In Makes Sure Websites Actually Honor Their Own Privacy Policies

All websites and online services typically have a privacy policy posted onto their website for users to read. This basically outlines to the user what the website or service will do with the information it has on you, what kind of privacy you would be agreeing to give up by using its service, and so on.

That’s all well and good, but that’s only on the surface. What if a company’s website or service processed your information in a completely different way from what its policy says? What if a website required you to submit your email address when its privacy policy makes no such mention? Thankfully, researchers from Waterloo University in Ontario have created a browser plug-in called Mitigator that attempts to ensure that a website’s privacy policy is actually being honored.

According to Ian Goldberg, a Waterloo professor and a co-author of the paper on Mitigator, “Users of Mitigator will know whether their data is being properly protected, managed and processed, while the companies will benefit in that their customers are happier and more confident that nothing untoward is being done with their data.”

In the past, various companies have come under fire due to the rewording of their privacy policies which have either made things more vague or made it seem like users were giving up more than they agreed to. That being said, it doesn’t appear that the public will be able to download Mitigator just yet, but it sounds like an interesting premise and hopefully it will be released eventually.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Computers
Tags: Privacy