PET Technologies: The future of online privacy?
Tags: cibersecurity, privacy
Published: 2023-03-27 10:59:20

In today's world, online privacy is a subject of great importance for internet users. More and more people are concerned about protecting their personal data and preventing third parties from using it without their consent. That's why, in recent years, there has been increasing talk of Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PET), a series of tools and techniques designed to improve privacy and security online.

PET technologies range from simple browser extensions to complex encryption systems, and their goal is to ensure that users can maintain control over their data at all times. With the use of these technologies, it is possible to protect users privacy and prevent third parties from collecting information without their knowledge. In this post, we will explore what PETs are, why they are important, how they work, and the new opportunities they present.

**What are PETs?**

PETs are technologies designed to help users control who can access and use their personal information online. PETs can include encryption tools, anonymization, differential privacy, obfuscation, and many others. These technologies are designed to protect users' privacy while allowing them to use online services safely and effectively.

**Why are PETs important?**

Online privacy is important for several reasons. First, personal data can be used to commit fraud, harass users, or even steal their identity. Second, personal data can be collected and used for personalized advertising, online tracking, and other purposes that can be invasive or harmful to users. Finally, personal data can be shared or sold to third parties without users' knowledge or consent.

PETs are important because they allow users to control who can access and use their personal information online, providing them with greater protection against these risks.

**How do PETs work?**

PETs work by using various techniques to protect users' privacy. There are several technologies that fall under the PET category, but some of the most important ones are homomorphic encryption, zero-knowledge proof (ZKP), anonymization, and differential privacy.

<u>Homomorphic Encryption (HE)</u> is a technology that allows users to perform calculations and operations on encrypted data without the need to decrypt it. This means that data remains encrypted throughout the entire analysis process, reducing the risk of exposure to third parties. It is especially useful in environments such as healthcare, banking, and research, where data is extremely sensitive and must be protected from possible privacy violations.


![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/fl2261ghdo9ylhrkbhkx.png)



However, Homomorphic Encryption is not yet widely used in the industry due to its computational cost and low efficiency. Operations on encrypted data are much slower than operations on unencrypted data. Additionally, Homomorphic Encryption is also vulnerable to chosen ciphertext attacks (known as CCA2), making it less reliable than other encryption methods.

Despite these limitations, Homomorphic Encryption is a promising technology and has been the subject of ongoing research and development in recent years. One key area of research has been to improve the efficiency of HE and reduce computational costs, so that it can be used in broader applications. Security improvements have also been worked on to address HE vulnerabilities.

<u>Zero-knowledge Proof (ZKP)</u> is another important technology in the field of PETs. It is a cryptographic technique that allows one party to prove they know certain information without revealing that information to the other party. This is done by generating a mathematical proof that demonstrates knowledge without revealing the actual information.

Zero-knowledge Proof is useful in a variety of applications, including authentication, where it can be used to prove a user's identity without revealing their personal information. It has also been used in electronic voting to ensure the integrity of the vote without exposing the privacy of the voters.

However, Zero-knowledge Proof also has some limitations. It is susceptible to certain types of attacks, such as man-in-the-middle attacks, where an attacker intercepts communication between the two parties and pretends to be one of them. It can also be computationally expensive, especially

<u>Anonymization </u>is the removal of personally identifiable information (PII) from data, making it difficult to identify specific individuals. Anonymization is commonly used in research applications, where data are needed for analysis, but the privacy of research subjects must be protected.

Finally, <u>differential privacy</u> protects the privacy of individuals when analyzing sensitive data by adding noise to the data before processing.

The idea behind differential privacy is that by adding noise to the data, one can ensure that any query or analysis performed on the data does not reveal personal information about individuals. That is, even if the data is published or shared with third parties, the privacy of the individuals remains protected.

In practice, differential privacy is achieved by applying mathematical algorithms that add noise to the data, while maintaining some utility in the data for analysis. The amount of noise that is added is adjusted to provide the necessary privacy while maintaining a sufficient level of accuracy in the analysis.

**New opportunities**

PETs offer many opportunities to improve online privacy. Some of the new opportunities they present include:

- The development of new privacy protection tools and technologies.

- Educating and raising awareness among users about online privacy risks and how to protect themselves.

- Creating policies and regulations to protect privacy online

- The promotion of research into privacy-enhancing technologies to improve online security and user privacy

- Developing new privacy-based business models, such as subscription services that do not collect user data.

In conclusion, privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs) are important tools for protecting users' online privacy. These technologies use various techniques to protect personal data and allow users to control who can access and use their online information.