Method and apparatus for cookie validation and scoring
Example embodiments of the present invention provide a method, an apparatus, and a computer program product for correlating privacy-related portions of a data stream with information indicative of a privacy policy. The method includes receiving privacy-related portions of a data stream transmitted from a source intended for a destination and receiving information indicative of a privacy policy associated with the destination. The privacy-related portions of the data stream then may be correlated with the information indicative of the privacy policy. According to this correlation, the privacy-related portions of the data stream may be forwarded to the destination.
1. A method comprising:
receiving privacy-related portions of a data stream transmitted from a source device in a network intended for a destination device outside the network by an intercepting device in the network before the data stream escapes the network toward the destination device;
receiving at the intercepting device information indicative of a privacy policy associated with the destination device;
correlating by the intercepting device the privacy-related portions of the data stream with the information indicative of the privacy policy; and
forwarding the privacy-related portions of the data stream from the intercepting device out of the network to the destination device according to the correlation.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein correlating by the intercepting device the privacy-related portions of the data stream with the information indicative of a privacy policy comprises determining a risk associated with forwarding the privacy-related portions of the data stream from the intercepting device out of the network to the destination device.
3. The method of claim 2 wherein determining a risk associated with forwarding the privacy-related portions of the data stream from the intercepting device out of the network to the destination device comprises:
inspecting context and content of respective privacy-related fields of the data stream;
comparing the context and content of the respective privacy-related fields of the data stream with the information indicative of the privacy policy associated with the destination device; and
determining whether the context and the content of the respective privacy-related fields of the data stream requires transformation of the content of the respective privacy-related fields according to a policy.
4. The method of claim 3 wherein determining whether the context and the content of the respective privacy-related fields of the data stream requires transformation of the content of the respective privacy-related fields according to a policy comprises generating a score indicative of the severity of divergence of the context and content of the respective privacy-related fields of the data stream from the information indicative of the privacy policy associated with the destination device.
5. The method of claim 4
wherein generating a score indicative of the severity of divergence of the context and content of the respective privacy-related fields of the data stream from the information indicative of the privacy policy associated with the destination device comprises generating a score that does not exceed a threshold; and
wherein forwarding the privacy-related portions of the data stream from the intercepting device out of the network to the destination device according to the correlation comprises forwarding the privacy-related portions of the data stream from the intercepting device out of the network to the destination device without transformation.
6. The method of claim 4
wherein generating a score indicative of the severity of divergence of the context and content of the respective privacy-related fields of the data stream from the information indicative of the privacy policy associated with the destination device comprises generating a score that exceeds a threshold; and
wherein forwarding the privacy-related portions of the data stream from the intercepting device out of the network to the destination device according to the correlation comprises:
performing a transformation on the content of the privacy-related portions of the data stream according to the score indicative of the severity of divergence of the context and content of the respective privacy-related fields of the data stream from the information indicative of the privacy policy associated with the destination device; and
forwarding the transformed portion of the data stream from the intercepting device out of the network to the destination device.
7. The method of claim 4 further comprising providing an indication of the score to a user.
8. The method of claim 7 further comprising enabling the user to override the determination of whether the context and the content of the respective privacy-related fields of the data stream requires transformation of the content of the respective privacy-related fields according to the policy.
9. The method of claim 3 further comprising evolving the policy according to the score.
10. The method of claim 1 wherein the information indicative of a privacy policy associated with the destination device indicates the privacy intentions of a third party associated with the destination device and wherein the destination device is under control of the third party.
11. An apparatus comprising:
a receiver module configured to receive privacy-related portions of a data stream transmitted from a source device in a network intended for a destination device outside the network before the data stream escapes the network toward the destination device and information indicative of a privacy policy associated with the destination device;
a correlation engine configured to correlate the privacy-related portions of the data stream with the information indicative of the privacy policy; and
a dispatcher configured to forward the privacy-related portions of the data stream out of the network to the destination device according to the correlation.
12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the correlation comprises an analysis module configured to determine a risk associated with forwarding the privacy-related portions of the data stream out of the network to the destination device.
13. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the analysis module is further configured to inspect context and content of respective privacy-related fields of the data stream, compare the context and content of the respective privacy-related fields of the data stream with the information indicative of the privacy policy associated with the destination device, and determine whether the context and the content of the respective privacy-related fields of the data stream requires transformation of the content of the respective privacy-related fields according to a policy.
14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the analysis module is further configured to generate a score indicative of the severity of divergence of the context and content of the respective privacy-related fields of the data stream from the information indicative of the privacy policy associated with the destination device.
15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the score does not exceed a threshold and wherein the dispatcher comprises a transfer module configured to forward the privacy-related portions of the data stream out of the network to the destination device without transformation.
16. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the score exceeds a threshold and wherein the dispatcher comprises:
a transformation module configured to perform a transformation on the content of the privacy-related portions of the data stream according to the score indicative of the severity of divergence of the context and content of the respective privacy-related fields of the data stream from the information indicative of the privacy policy associated with the destination device; and
a transfer module configured to forward the transformed portion of the data stream out of the network to the destination device.
17. The apparatus of claim 14 further comprising an interface to a display to provide an indication of the score to a user.
18. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein the display enables the user to override the determination of whether the context and the content of the respective privacy-related fields of the data stream requires transformation of the content of the respective privacy-related fields according to the policy.
19. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the correlation module is further configured to evolve the policy according to the score.
20. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the information indicative of a privacy policy associated with the destination device indicates the privacy intentions of a third party associated with the destination device and wherein the destination device is under control of the third party.
21. A computer program product including a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium encoded with computer-program code that, when executed on a processor of a computer, causes the computer to correlate privacy-related portions of a data stream with information indicative of a privacy policy, the computer program product comprising:
computer program code for receiving privacy-related portions of a data stream transmitted from a source device in a network intended for a destination device outside the network by an intercepting device in the network before the data stream escapes the network toward the destination device;
computer program code for receiving information indicative of a privacy policy associated with the destination device;
computer program code for correlating the privacy-related portions of the data stream with the information indicative of the privacy policy; and
computer program code for forwarding the privacy-related portions of the data stream from the intercepting device out of the network to the destination device according to the correlation.