Ian Goldberg, a Cheriton School of Computer Science Assistant Professor, has been named an Outstanding Young Computer Science Researcher by the Canadian Association of Computer Science. Ian's research focuses on privacy enhancing technologies: tools and systems that help you maintain the privacy of your Internet transactions and communications. Most attempted approaches today, however, suffer from such complexity that people don't use them correctly or don't use them at all, and their online privacy suffers as a result. Ian aims to develop what are called useful privacy enhancing technologies: ones with the properties of usability, deployability, effectiveness, and robustness. One goal of these technologies is that they require minimal interaction and configuration from the end user. Ideally they should provide a benefit even if the user is unaware of their existence. Over 100,000 people worldwide use Ian's Off-the-Record Messaging software to protect the privacy of their instant messaging communications. Ian continues to work on this messaging software and other projects to bring privacy to Internet users.
Friday, February 11, 2011