CNT4403 Privacy

Confidentiality

The property of communication content being unreadable to unauthorized readers. To an observer, the content is indistinguishable from random bits.

Privacy

In the context of communications, it refers to the awareness of the existence of communication between parties. This includes knowing who is talking to whom, the frequency of messages, and other metadata, separate from the message content.

Data Security

The practice of protecting data from accidental loss and unauthorized access and use through technical measures such as encryption, firewalls, antivirus software, and access control.

Data Privacy

The right of individuals to control their personal data regarding its collection, use, storage, and deletion. It focuses on handling information ethically and legally.

Anonymity

The state of protecting one's identity. Its goal is to allow the exposure of content without revealing the identity of the person who revealed it.

Private Browsing

A browser mode that reduces the state exposed during web sessions by not recording visited pages in the browsing history and by deleting cookies for a site once the user leaves it.

Secure Deletion

The process of ensuring that deleted data is truly and permanently removed from a storage medium, preventing its potential recovery and disclosure.

Plausible Deniability (PD)

A privacy feature that allows a user to deny the existence of sensitive data, even when forced to surrender encryption keys. The hidden data is encrypted to be indistinguishable from random data.

Plausibly Deniable (PD) System

A system designed to implement plausible deniability. It operates in two modes: a public mode for handling non-sensitive data and a hidden mode for handling concealed, sensitive data.