Related papers: Hiding in Plain Sight: Query Obfuscation via Rando…
To preserve client privacy in the data mining process, a variety of techniques based on random perturbation of data records have been proposed recently. In this paper, we present a generalized matrix-theoretic model of random perturbation,…
Text style can reveal sensitive attributes of the author (e.g. race or age) to the reader, which can, in turn, lead to privacy violations and bias in both human and algorithmic decisions based on text. For example, the style of writing in…
Asking clarifying questions in response to search queries has been recognized as a useful technique for revealing the underlying intent of the query. Clarification has applications in retrieval systems with different interfaces, from the…
To partly address people's concerns over web tracking, Google has created the Ad Settings webpage to provide information about and some choice over the profiles Google creates on users. We present AdFisher, an automated tool that explores…
Search engines play a central role in how people gather information, but subtle cues like headline framing may influence not only what users believe but also how they search. While framing effects on judgment are well documented, their…
Our online lives generate a wealth of behavioral records -'digital footprints'- which are stored and leveraged by technology platforms. This data can be used to create value for users by personalizing services. At the same time, however, it…
Online content platforms optimize engagement by providing personalized recommendations to their users. These recommendation systems track and profile users to predict relevant content a user is likely interested in. While the personalized…
Personalized algorithms can inadvertently expose users to discomforting recommendations, potentially triggering negative consequences. The subjectivity of discomfort and the black-box nature of these algorithms make it challenging to…
The term filter bubble has been coined to describe the situation of online users which---due to filtering algorithms---live in a personalised information universe biased towards their own interests.In this paper we use an agent-based…
Search engines intentionally influence user behavior by picking and ranking the list of results. Users engage with the highest results both because of their prominent placement and because they are typically the most relevant documents.…
User privacy can be compromised by matching user data traces to records of their previous behavior. The matching of the statistical characteristics of traces to prior user behavior has been widely studied. However, an adversary can also…
The influence of Web search personalisation on professional knowledge work is an understudied area. Here we investigate how public sector officials self-assess their dependency on the Google Web search engine, whether they are aware of the…
We ask how to defend user ability to plausibly deny their interest in topics deemed sensitive in the face of search engine learning. We develop a practical and scalable tool called \PDE{} allowing a user to detect and assess threats to…
We investigate how code obfuscation influences human understanding of programs through an output-prediction task. To study this effect, we construct multiple levels of obfuscation, ranging from unobfuscated code to transformations involving…
We introduce a formal model for the information leakage of probability distributions and define a notion called distribution privacy as the local differential privacy for probability distributions. Roughly, the distribution privacy of a…
Bias in web search has been in the spotlight of bias detection research for quite a while. At the same time, little attention has been paid to query suggestions in this regard. Awareness of the problem of biased query suggestions has been…
Conversational AI systems are being used in personal devices, providing users with highly personalized content. Personalized knowledge graphs (PKGs) are one of the recently proposed methods to store users' information in a structured form…
With the rise of cameras and smart sensors, humanity generates an exponential amount of data. This valuable information, including underrepresented cases like AI in medical settings, can fuel new deep-learning tools. However, data…
Large language models excel at following explicit instructions, but they often struggle with ambiguous or incomplete user requests, defaulting to verbose, generic responses instead of seeking clarification. We introduce InfoQuest, a…
Problem Statement: The huge number of information on the web as well as the growth of new inexperienced users creates new challenges for information retrieval. It has become increasingly difficult for these users to find relevant documents…