Privacy software, also called privacy platform, is

software Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications. The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...

built to protect the

privacy Privacy (, ) is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively. The domain of privacy partially overlaps with security, which can include the concepts of a ...

of its users. The software typically works in conjunction with

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

usage to control or limit the amount of information made available to third parties. The software can apply

encryption In Cryptography law, cryptography, encryption (more specifically, Code, encoding) is the process of transforming information in a way that, ideally, only authorized parties can decode. This process converts the original representation of the inf ...

or filtering of various kinds.

Types of protection

Privacy software can refer to two different types of protection. The first type is protecting a user's Internet privacy from the World Wide Web. There are software products that will mask or hide a user's

IP address An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical label such as that is assigned to a device connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. IP addresses serve two main functions: network interface i ...

from the outside world to protect the user from

identity theft Identity theft, identity piracy or identity infringement occurs when someone uses another's personal identifying information, like their name, identifying number, or credit card number, without their permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. ...

. The second type of protection is hiding or deleting the user's Internet traces that are left on their PC after they have been surfing the Internet. There is software that will erase all the user's Internet traces and there is software that will hide and (Encrypt) a user's traces so that others using their PC will not know where they have been surfing.

Whitelisting and blacklisting

One solution to enhance privacy software is whitelisting. Whitelisting is a process in which a company identifies the software that it will allow and does not try to recognize malware. Whitelisting permits acceptable software to run and either prevents anything else from running or lets new software run in a quarantined environment until its validity can be verified. Whereas whitelisting allows nothing to run unless it is on the

whitelist A whitelist or allowlist is a list or register of entities that are being provided a particular privilege, service, mobility, access or recognition. Entities on the list will be accepted, approved and/or recognized. Whitelisting is the reverse of ...

, blacklisting allows everything to run unless it is on the black. A blacklist then includes certain types of software that are not allowed to run in the company environment. For example, a company might blacklist

peer-to-peer file sharing Peer-to-peer file sharing is the distribution and sharing of digital media using peer-to-peer (P2P) networking technology. P2P file sharing allows users to access media files such as books, music, movies, and games using a P2P software program th ...

on its systems. In addition to software, people, devices, and websites can also be whitelisted or blacklisted.

Intrusion detection systems

Intrusion detection systems are designed to detect all types of malicious network traffic and computer usage that cannot be detected by a firewall. These systems capture all network traffic flows and examine the contents of each packet for malicious traffic.

Encryption

Encryption is another form of privacy security. When organizations do not have a

secure channel In cryptography, a secure channel is a means of data transmission that is resistant to overhearing and tampering. A confidential channel is a means of data transmission that is resistant to overhearing, or eavesdropping (e.g., reading the conten ...

for sending information, they use encryption to stop unauthorized eavesdroppers. Encryption is the process of converting an original message into a form that cannot be read by anyone except the intended receiver.

Steganography

Steganography is the practice of representing information within another message or physical object, in such a manner that the presence of the information is not evident to human inspection. Its purpose is to hide messages from eavesdropping and e-surveillance. Compared to using cryptography, which translates the text itself to another format, steganography hides the data rather than converting it.

Privacy vs anonymity

Privacy is different from

anonymity Anonymity describes situations where the acting person's identity is unknown. Anonymity may be created unintentionally through the loss of identifying information due to the passage of time or a destructive event, or intentionally if a person cho ...

in its applicability and usage. Anonymity is subordinate to privacy and might be desired for the exchange, retrieval, or publication of specific information.

References

External links

PRISM Break

NIST
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Software Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications. The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...

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