CSI 5139

Privacy Enhancing Technologies

Assignment #1
Due: Friday, February 3, 2023 (before 4:00 p.m.)
Please answer as clearly and completely as possible.

1. [2.5 marks] Choose any social media platform and read its privacy policy carefully. What does the
policy say about data ownership, data retention, data use, and sharing of data with third parties?
Discuss any privacy concerns that you have regarding what you have read.

2. [1.5 marks] Confidentiality is very obviously important for privacy. Give an example situation in
which integrity is important for privacy. Give an example situation in which authenticity is important
for privacy. Is any one of these three properties sufficient to provide privacy? (Why or why not?)

3. [1.5 marks] If a message is modified, its hash value will change with very high probability (and so a
receiver will immediately know that the message was corrupted). Given that this is true, explain why
sending a message and its hash over an unprotected channel does not provide integrity for the
message. What can be done to fix this (i.e., how can integrity be provided)?

4. [2.5 marks] Describe, in your own words, the major similarities and the major differences between a
mix network and an onion routing network. In what circumstances would you use each technology?
Discuss two situations in which anonymity in communications is important.

5. [2 marks] Discuss the features and benefits of the Loopix Anonymity System
(https://www.usenix.org/conference/usenixsecurity17/technical-sessions/presentation/piotrowska)
compared to both mix networks and onion routing networks.