Privacy Leakage: A Research Proposal Research Proposals Examples

Introduction

Modern consumers are living a complete digital life. Virtual assets such as videos and personal photos, passwords to gain access to online banking and social networking, and work documents are of the greatest significance and users are greatly concerned regarding safety of such information.
A lot of consumers across the world use a number of devices to surf or seek information through the internet. These devices include laptops, desktops, tablets, and mobile phones. However, the protection level for these devices is said to be poor. Such case brings great alarm since these devices store most of the data, including the sensitive ones. Consumers are aware that security threats in the online world exist. Nonetheless, the knowledge level of these issues is very low. A public Wi-Fi hotspot is the most popular means of being connected to the internet. Even more alarming is the fact that majority of the public Wi-Fi users do not care about online banking safety.
Public Wi-Fi is easily accessible everywhere – in libraries, restaurants, stores, and train stations. A lot of experts are warning against making financial transactions or utilizing credit cards on a Wi-Fi that is also accessed by other people. Doing so would offer identity thieves with the data they need to gain access to one’s financial account and use the money for their best interest. Experts suggest against the use of email accounts or social media using a public Wi-Fi because the data can be seen by hackers and the data is then used to obtain passwords and steal the identity of a person.

General Aims of the Research

The primary aim of this research is to evaluate the contemporary frameworks for privacy leakage. This study is greatly important and useful, particularly to all public Wi-Fi users and internet users who constantly conduct transactions online. It is imperative in this study to extend the existing literature on how to promote greater awareness about the risks of using public Wi-Fi in accessing personal and banking information. What this study can contribute to knowledge is to test the applicability of the findings done in other studies to a different context. My review of related literature attests to the value of using privacy by design in creating a better framework to prevent privacy leakage.

Specific Research Objectives

This paper seeks to evaluate the contemporary frameworks for privacy leakage aiming at building a framework for modelling privacy leakage to detect privacy leaks.

Research Question

What contemporary frameworks are best to use to detect privacy leaks? How can public Wi-Fi pose detrimental effects to the end-users?

Review of Related Literature & Conceptual Framework

Based on the data presented by Sheehan (21), conventional typologies of privacy concern among consumers posit that consumers are divided into three groups. Twenty-five percent of consumers do not worry about privacy; twenty-five percent are greatly concerned about privacy; and fifty percent are pragmatic, in that their privacy concerns are reliant on the situation they are in. The results of the study conducted by Sheehan (21) shows that people with greater levels of education are greatly concerned about online privacy compared to those who have less education. Moreover, younger individuals are a lot more pragmatic compared to adults.
Rubinstein and Good claims that regulators have accepted privacy by design as a crucial element of their continuing revision of privacy laws. The idea behind this system is to build in privacy by way of Fair Information Practices when developing software services and products. However, FIPs as a system is not self-executing. Instead, privacy by design necessitates the translation of FIPs into usability and engineering practices and principles. The best method to guarantee that software encompasses the privacy and goals as stated in FIPs and other related guidelines concerning corporate privacy by including them in the description of software requirements. And a leading component of creating a requirement or specification for software design is to create in a concrete, metric, and specific manner. In addition, it is also important to create emerging software interfaces as well as other visual components that are focused on end-user needs, wants, goals, and constraints.
Privacy official in the United States and Europe embraces privacy by design. Such is the concept that in planning information and communication technologies, creating privacy from the outset accomplishes better outcome than securing it on the end. Rubinstein claims that companies participating in privacy by design when they advertise consumer privacy via organizations at every aspect of the development of their services and products. In particular, privacy by design has two primary components – first, integrating four substantive protections of privacy into a company’s practices; and upholding comprehensive procedures of data management all through the life cycle of their services and products.
Privacy by design is a vague concept. Privacy by design signifies adoption of FIPPs in the operation and design of services and products gathered, or in any manner process certain personal information. One method of achieving privacy by design is through the use of existing Privacy Enhancing Technologies or PETs or developing new ones in reaction to privacy concerns. In another way, privacy by design is made up in the adoption of systems, processes, policies, and procedures, any of which may likewise possess a technological height, and which may be termed as privacy safeguards. Privacy officials of EU have liked PETs, yet have started to embrace a more costly method to privacy by design that highlights excellent design practices. In the United States, the Commission provides brief shrift to PETs and instead emphasizes a wide set of securities such as design practices. It is suggested that privacy by design is integrated to a set of management and development practices and processes. With PETs, it is essential to differentiate activities of software development from back-end practices in data management. The lifecycle of software development seeks to guarantee that in designing services and products, software developers consider privacy expectations of customers and the significant threat model that has to be protected against. This strategy empowers a lot of users to control their personal information and to reduce the risks of privacy incidents.
Privacy protection is essential in various industries including finance and healthcare. Capturing and modelling privacy requirements during the start of the system development is vital to offer great assurance of privacy protection to both consumers and stakeholders. Privacy requirement is also demanded by various legislative bodies and enacted laws. Early developments of security guidelines were focused on mandatory access control or MAC. In this system, objects have related security classifications and only the subjects may access them if they the right classification. Another type of system is known as discretionary access control in which access restrictions are grounded on the user’s identity, and any group or process involved. Discretionary in terms that subjects with particular access permission can transmit that permission to other subjects. In the absence of permission, no sharing of information takes place.

Research Methodology

The descriptive method of research will be used in this study. Descriptive method of research is a study that involves fact-finding with accurate and adequate interpretation of the finding. It describes what is. It describes with emphasis what actually exist, including current conditions, situations, practices, or any phenomena. In particular, this paper uses a case study which encompasses an extensive and comprehensive examination of a situation. This research will gather past research studies involving privacy by design in protecting online privacy from leaks. The research studies must be current (within 10 years). The data will be consolidated, compared, and analysed. Data analysis will be based on the information derived from research studies.
This study will also make use of qualitative approach. A survey will be conducted to Wi-Fi users or individuals involved in the internet. Questionnaires will be given out to determine how significant online privacy is to them.

Constraints and Limitations

The research is limited to the use of privacy by design in protecting privacy from leakage.
Ethical Considerations
In this research, the respondents will be treated as autonomous agents. The subjects will obtain a complete disclosure of the type of study to be conducted, the benefits, risks, and alternatives, with an extended opportunity to render queries. Since the respondents are sensitive to the issue concerning online privacy, these individuals have diminished autonomy. Hence, they have the right to be protected and must not be forced to participate in the study. This research will also ensure maximum potential benefits and will reduce potential risks. Prior to conducting the survey, permission will be obtained from the respondents. This is to assure them that the intention of the research is good and does not intend to bring about emotional or physical harm.

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