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report.lyx
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report.lyx
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#LyX 2.1 created this file. For more info see http://www.lyx.org/
\lyxformat 474
\begin_document
\begin_header
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\pdf_title "Master’s thesis"
\pdf_author "Joel Purra"
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\begin_body
\begin_layout Title
Master’s thesis
\begin_inset Newline newline
\end_inset
Swedes Online: You Are More Tracked Than You Think
\end_layout
\begin_layout Author
Joel Purra
\begin_inset Newline newline
\end_inset
\begin_inset CommandInset href
LatexCommand href
target "mig@joelpurra.se"
type "mailto:"
\end_inset
, joepu444
\begin_inset Newline newline
\end_inset
\begin_inset CommandInset href
LatexCommand href
target "http://joelpurra.com/"
\end_inset
\begin_inset Newline newline
\end_inset
+46 70 352 1212
\end_layout
\begin_layout Date
\begin_inset ERT
status open
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\backslash
versionandtoday
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\end_inset
\end_layout
\begin_layout Right Header
Joel Purra's Master's Thesis
\begin_inset Argument 1
status open
\begin_layout Plain Layout
Swedes Online: You Are More Tracked Than You Think
\end_layout
\end_inset
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status open
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\backslash
slshape
\backslash
nouppercase{
\backslash
leftmark}
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\end_inset
\end_layout
\end_inset
\end_layout
\begin_layout Abstract
When you are browsing websites, third-party resources record your online
habits; such
\emph on
tracking
\emph default
can be considered an invasion of privacy.
It was previously unknown how many third-party resources, trackers and
tracker companies are present in the different classes of websites chosen:
globally popular websites, random samples of .se/.dk/.com/.net domains and
curated lists of websites of public interest in Sweden.
The in-browser HTTP/HTTPS traffic was recorded while downloading over
\begin_inset ERT
status open
\begin_layout Plain Layout
\backslash
numprint{150000}
\end_layout
\end_inset
websites, allowing comparison of HTTPS adaption and third-party tracking
within and across the different classes of websites.
\end_layout
\begin_layout Abstract
The data shows that known third-party resources including known trackers
are present on
\emph on
over 90%
\emph default
of most classes, that third-party hosted
\emph on
content
\emph default
such as video, scripts and fonts make up a large portion of the known trackers
seen on a typical website and that tracking is just as prevalent on
\emph on
secure
\emph default
as insecure sites.
\end_layout
\begin_layout Abstract
Observations include that Google is the most widespread tracker organization
\emph on
by far
\emph default
, that content is being served by known trackers may suggest that trackers
are moving to providing services to the end user to
\emph on
avoid being blocked
\emph default
by privacy tools and ad blockers, and that the small difference in tracking
between using HTTP and HTTPS connections may suggest that users are given
a
\emph on
false sense of privacy
\emph default
when using HTTPS.
\end_layout
\begin_layout Chapter*
Acknowledgments
\end_layout
\begin_layout Section*
The Internet Infrastructure Foundation
\begin_inset Foot
status open
\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset CommandInset href
LatexCommand href
target "https://www.iis.se/"
\end_inset
\end_layout
\end_inset
(.SE)
\end_layout
\begin_layout Standard
.SE is also known as Stiftelsen för internetinfrastruktur (IIS).
\end_layout
\begin_layout Standard
This thesis was written in the office of -- and in collaboration with --
.SE, who graciously supported me with domain data and internet knowledge.
Part of .SE’s research efforts include continuously analyzing internet infrastru
cture and usage in Sweden.
.SE is an independent organization, responsible for the Swedish top level
domain, and working for the benefit of the public that promotes the positive
development of the internet in Sweden.
\end_layout
\begin_layout Section*
Thesis supervision
\end_layout
\begin_layout Description
Niklas
\begin_inset space ~
\end_inset
Carlsson Associate Professor (Swedish: docent and universitetslektor) at
Division for Database and Information Techniques (ADIT), Department of
Computer and Information Science (IDA), Linköping University, Sweden.
Thank you for being my examiner!
\end_layout
\begin_layout Description
Patrik
\begin_inset space ~
\end_inset
Wallström Project Manager within R&D, .SE (The Internet Infrastructure Foundation
), Sweden.
Thank you for being my technical supervisor!
\end_layout
\begin_layout Description
Staffan
\begin_inset space ~
\end_inset
Hagnell Head of New Businesses, .SE (The Internet Infrastructure Foundation),
Sweden.
Thank you for being my company supervisor!
\end_layout
\begin_layout Description
Anton
\begin_inset space ~
\end_inset
Nilsson Master student in Information Technology, Linköping University,
Sweden.
Thank you for being my opponent!
\end_layout
\begin_layout Section*
Domains, data and software
\end_layout
\begin_layout Standard
.SE (Richard Isberg, Tobbe Carlsson, Anne-Marie Eklund-Löwinder, Erika Lund),
DK Hostmaster A/S (Steen Vincentz Jensen, Lise Fuhr), Reach50/Webmie (Mika
Wenell, Jyry Suvilehto), Alexa, Verisign.
Disconnect.me, Mozilla.
PhantomJS, jq, GNU Parallel, LyX.
Thank you!
\end_layout
\begin_layout Section*
Tips, feedback, inspiration and help
\end_layout
\begin_layout Standard
Dwight Hunter, Peter Forsman, Linus Nordberg, Pamela Davidsson, Lennart
Bonnevier, Isabelle Edlund, Amar Andersson, Per-Ola Mjömark, Elisabeth
Nilsson, Mats Dufberg, Ana Rodriguez Garcia, Stanley Greenstein, Markus
Bylund.
Thank you!
\end_layout
\begin_layout Standard
And of course everyone I forgot to mention -- sorry and thank you!
\end_layout
\begin_layout Standard
\begin_inset CommandInset toc
LatexCommand tableofcontents
\end_inset
\end_layout
\begin_layout Standard
\begin_inset FloatList table
\end_inset
\end_layout
\begin_layout Standard
\begin_inset FloatList figure
\end_inset
\end_layout
\begin_layout Standard
\begin_inset CommandInset nomencl_print
LatexCommand printnomenclature
set_width "custom"
width "20text%"
\end_inset
\end_layout
\begin_layout Standard
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol "Content"
description "Information and data that is presented to the user. Includes text, images, video and sound."
\end_inset
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol "Resource"
description "An entity external to the HTML page that requested it. Types of resources include images, video, audio, CSS, javascript and flash animations."
\end_inset
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol "External resource"
description "A resource downloaded from a domain other than the page that requested it was served from."
\end_inset
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol "External service"
description "A third party service that delives some kind of resource to the user's browser. The service itself can vary from showing additional information and content, to ads and hidden trackers.\\\\\\\\External services include file hosting services, CDNs, advertisting networks, statistics and analytics collectors, and third party content."
\end_inset
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol "Tracker"
description "A resource external to the visited page, which upon access receives information about the user's system and the page that requested it.\\\\\\\\Basic information in the HTTP request to the resource URL includes user agent (browser vendor, type and version down to the patch level, operating system, sometimes hardware type) referer (the full URL of page that requested the resource), an etag (unique string identifying the data from a previous request to the same resource URL) and cookies (previously set by the same tracker)."
\end_inset
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol "CDN"
description "Content delivery network"
\end_inset
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol "Content delivery network"
description "(CDN) The speed at which data can be delivered is dependant on distance between the user and the server. To reduce latency and download times, a content delivery network places multiple servers with the same content in strategic locations, both geographic and network toplolgy wise, closer to groups of users.\\\\\\\\For example, a CDN could deploy servers in Europe, the US and Australia, and reduce loading speed by setting up the system to automatically use the closest location."
\end_inset
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol "Domain name"
description "A human-readable way to navigate to a service on the internet: example.com. Often implicitly meaning FQDN. Domains are also used, for example, as logical entities in regards to security and privacy scopes on the web, often implemented as same-origin policies. As an example, HTTP cookies are bound to domain that set them."
\end_inset
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol "Third-party content"
description "Content served by another organization than the organization serving the explicitly requested web page. Also see external resource."
\end_inset
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol "Third-party service"
description "A service provided by an organization other than the explicitly requested service. Also see external service."
\end_inset
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol "Web site"
description "A collection of web pages under the same organization or topic. Often all web pages on a domain is considered a site, but a single domain can also contain multiple sites."
\end_inset
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol "Web service"
description "A function performed on the internet, and in this document specifically web sites with a specific purpose directed towards human users. This includes search engines, social networks, online messaging and email as well as content sites such as news sites and blogs."
\end_inset
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol "Web browser"
description "Or browser. Software a user utilizes to retrieve, present and traverse information from the web."
\end_inset
\end_layout
\begin_layout Standard
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol "URL"
description "Uniform Resource Locator"
\end_inset
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol "Uniform Resource Locator"
description "(URL) A standard to define the address to resources, mostly on the internet, for example http://joelpurra.com/projects/masters-thesis/"
\end_inset
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol "HTTP"
description "Hypertext Transfer Protocol"
\end_inset
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol "HTTPS"
description "Secure HTTP, where data is transfered encrypted."
\end_inset
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol "Hypertext Transfer Protocol"
description "(HTTP) A protocol to transfer HTML and other web page resources across the internet."
\end_inset
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol "Do Not Track"
description "(DNT) A HTTP header used to indicate that the server should not record and track the client's traffic and other data."
\end_inset
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol "DNT"
description "Do Not Track"
\end_inset
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol "P3P"
description "Platform for Privacy Preferences (P3P) Project"
\end_inset
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol "Platform for Privacy Preferences Project"
description "(P3P) A W3C standard for HTTP where server responses are annotated with an encoded privacy policy, so the client can display it to the user. Work has been discontinued since 2006."
\end_inset
\end_layout
\begin_layout Standard
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol ".SE"
description "The Internet Infrastructure Foundation. An independent organization for the benefit of the public that promotes the positive development of the internet in Sweden. .SE is responsible for the .se country code top level domain."
\end_inset
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol ".se"
description "The country code top level domain name for Sweden."
\end_inset
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol ".dk"
description "The country code top level domain name for Denmark."
\end_inset
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol ".com"
description "A generic top level domain. It has the greatest number of registered domain of all TLDs."
\end_inset
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol ".net"
description "A generic top level domain."
\end_inset
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol "FQDN"
description "Fully qualified domain name"
\end_inset
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol "Fully qualified domain name"
description "(FQDN) A domain name specific enough to be used on the internet. Has at least a TLD and a second-level domain name - but oftentimes more depending on TLD rules and organizational units."
\end_inset
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol "Top level domain"
description "(TLD) The last part of a domain name, such as .se or .com. Registration of TLDs is handled by ICANN."
\end_inset
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol "gTLD"
description "Generic top level domain such as .com or .net."
\end_inset
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol "ccTLD"
description "A top level domain based on a country code, such as .se or .dk."
\end_inset
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol "Primary domain"
description "For the thesis, the first non-public suffix part of a domain name has been labeled the primary domain. For example example.com.br has been labeled the primary domain for www.company-abc.com.br, as .com.br is a public suffix."
\end_inset
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol "Subdomain"
description "A domain name that belongs to another domain name zone. For example service.example.net is a subdomain to example.net."
\end_inset
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol "Superdomain"
description "For the thesis, domains in parent zones have been labeled superdomains to their subdomains, such as such as example.se being a superdomain to www.example.se."
\end_inset
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol "Public suffix"
description "The part of a domain name that is unavilable for registrations, used for grouping. All TLDs are public suffixes, but some have one or more levels of public suffixes, such as .com.br for commercial domains in Brazil or .pp.se for privately owned personal domains (a public suffix which has been deprecated, but still exists)."
\end_inset
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol "Zone"
description "A technical as well as administrative part of DNS. Each dot in a domain name represents another zone, from the implicit root zone to TLDs and privately owned zones -- which in turn can contain more privately controlled zones."
\end_inset
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol "SLD"
description "Second-level domain"
\end_inset
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol "ccSLD"
description "Country-code second-level domain. A SLD that belongs to a country code TLD. A ccSLD is not for public use, which are required to register their domains on the third domain level."
\end_inset
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol "Second-level domain"
description "(SLD) A domain that is directly below a TLD. Can be a domain registerable to the public, or a ccSLD."
\end_inset
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol "Parked domain"
description "A domain that has been purchased from a domain name retailer, but only shows a placeholder message – usually an advertisement for the domain name retailer itself."
\end_inset
\end_layout
\begin_layout Standard
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol "Alexa"
description "A web traffic statistic service, owned by Amazon."
\end_inset
\end_layout
\begin_layout Standard
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol "jq"
description "A tool and domain specific programming language to read and transform JSON data. See the software chapter."
\end_inset
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol "phantomjs"
description "Browser software used for automated web site browsing. See the software chapter."
\end_inset
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol "HAR"
description "HTTP Archive (HAR) format, used to store recorded HTTP metadata from a web page visit. See the software chapter."
\end_inset
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol "JavaScript Object Notation"
description "(JSON) A data format based on Javascript objects. Often used on the internet for data transfer. Used in this thesis as the basis for all data transformation."
\end_inset
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol "JSON"
description "JavaScript Object Notation"
\end_inset
\end_layout
\begin_layout Standard
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol "GOCS"
description "Government-owned corporations"
\end_inset
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol "Government-owned corporations"
description "(GOCS) State-owned corporations."
\end_inset
\end_layout
\begin_layout Standard
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol "CDF"
description "Cumulative distribution function."
\end_inset
\begin_inset CommandInset nomenclature
LatexCommand nomenclature
symbol "Cumulative distribution function"
description "(CDF) In this thesis usually a graph which shows the ratio of a property as seen per domain on the x axis, with the cumulative ratio of domains which show this property on the y axis. The steeper the curve is above an x value range, the higher the ratio of domains which fall within the range."
\end_inset
\end_layout
\begin_layout Standard
\begin_inset Newpage cleardoublepage
\end_inset
\end_layout
\begin_layout Chapter
Introduction
\end_layout
\begin_layout Standard
How many companies are recording your online trail, and how much information
does the average Swede leak while using popular .se websites? Many, and
a lot -- more than you may think.
Large organizations like Google, Facebook and Amazon are able to connect
the dots you leave behind during everyday usage, and construct a
\emph on
persona
\emph default
that reflects you from their perspective.
Have you told your family, friends or colleagues about your gambling addiction,
your sex toy purchases, or your alcoholism? Even if you did not tell anyone
your deepest secrets, these companies might conclude that they can put
labels on you by looking at everything you do online.
And now they are selling it as hard facts behind the scenes.
\end_layout
\begin_layout Standard
While browsing the web users are both actively and passively being
\emph on
tracked
\emph default
by multiple companies, for the purpose of building a persona for targeted
advertising.
Sometimes the data collection is visible, as in social network sites and
questionnaires, but it is most common in the form of different kinds of
external resources which may or may not serve a purpose other than keeping
track of your every click.
Secure connections between server and client help against passive data
collection along the network path, but not against site owners allowing
in-page trackers.
Tracking code is installed on web pages that have adverts as well as those
that do not -- the spread and reach of tracking across web pages and domains
of different kinds increases the quality of the user data collected and
inferred, making it more valuable for advertising purposes.
With the extent of the use of trackers and other external resources largely
unknown and ever evolving, what is already known raises privacy concerns
-- data considered personal leak without the user's knowledge or explicit
permission and end up in privately owned databases for further distribution.
Data collection is the new wild west, and you are the new cattle.
\end_layout
\begin_layout Standard
This thesis uses large-scale measurements to characterize how different
kinds of domains in Sweden and internationally use website resources.
Front pages of approximately
\begin_inset ERT
status open
\begin_layout Plain Layout
\backslash
numprint{150000}
\end_layout
\end_inset
random .se, .dk, .com, .net domains and Swedish, Danish and Alexa's top domains
were visited and their resources, including those dynamically loaded, recorded.
Each domain was accessed both with insecure HTTP and secure HTTPS connections
to provide a comparison.
Resources were grouped by mime type, URL protocol, domain, if it matches
the domain the request originated from and compared to lists of known trackers
and organizations.
The thesis makes three primary contributions:
\end_layout
\begin_layout Enumerate
Software for automated, repeatable retrieval and analysis of large amounts
of websites has been developed, and released as open source (see Appendix
\begin_inset CommandInset ref
LatexCommand ref
reference "chap:Software"
\end_inset
).
Datasets based on publicly available domain lists have been released for
scientific scrutinization
\begin_inset Foot
status open
\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset CommandInset href
LatexCommand href
target "http://joelpurra.com/projects/masters-thesis/"
\end_inset
\end_layout
\end_inset
.
The data allows analysis of websites' HTTP/HTTPS requests including the
use of resources internal versus external to the entry domain, which the
most common confirmed tracker organizations are, what spread they have
and how much the average internet user can expect to be tracked by visiting
some of the most important and popular sites in Sweden, Denmark and worldwide.
Downloading and analyzing additional/custom datasets is very easy.
\end_layout
\begin_layout Enumerate
Adaption of HTTPS for different domains has been characterized from a Swedish
perspective.
The adaption between classes of domains within Sweden, as well as against
popular international domains, are compared (see Section
\begin_inset CommandInset ref
LatexCommand ref
reference "sec:Results-HTTP,-HTTPS-and-redirects"
\end_inset
).
HTTPS adoption among globally popular websites (10-30%, 50% for the very
top) and curated lists of Swedish websites (15-50%) is much higher than
for random domains (less than 1%).
This means that most websites in the world are susceptible to passive eavesdrop
ping anywhere along the network path between the client and the server.
But even with HTTPS enabled, traffic data and personally identifiable informati
on is leaked through external resources and third-party trackers, which
are just as prevalent on insecure HTTP as secure HTTPS enabled websites
(see Section
\begin_inset CommandInset ref
LatexCommand ref
reference "sec:Results-Internal-and-external-requests"
\end_inset
and
\begin_inset CommandInset ref
LatexCommand eqref
reference "sec:Results-Tracker-detection"
\end_inset