The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

The Grey Web: dataveillance vision fulfilled through the evolving Web

The Grey Web: dataveillance vision fulfilled through the evolving Web
The Grey Web: dataveillance vision fulfilled through the evolving Web
Over the past three decades, Web has evolved from an information medium to an intricate economic ecosystem. Initially focused on supporting the transition from traditional business practices to e-commerce, the Web has given rise to new, purely Web based businesses. Aligned with the original vision and expectations of the ‘free Web’, they have provided free services but, over time, developed business models that leverage the user digital footprints and the user generated content to create economic value. With the use of computing technologies to analyze, aggregate, and share such data, individuals’ privacy has been undermined and, with that, the their ability to shape their role in the digital society and beyond. The purpose of this paper is to instigate the dialogue around the critical societal issues that arise from the current Web economy and motivate research initiatives to assist with addressing them. We present three case studies that quantify the extent, rate, and pervasiveness of the user tracking on the Web. We use them to illustrate the determining aspects of the Web that have to be taken into account by the Web Science community. As researchers we aspire to understand the nature of the Web in depth and, based on that, propose designs and policies that are required to ensure that the Web is fit to be the underpinning of our societies and our digital future.
privacy, security, surveillance, dataveillance, policy, economics, regulation
University of Southampton
Gomer, Richard Charles
170145a5-ed38-4f46-ab46-dd8dc956df03
Milic-Frayling, Natasa
d01195d8-81a1-43f7-a36f-d751b0afdf7b
schraefel, m.c.
ac304659-1692-47f6-b892-15113b8c929f
Gomer, Richard Charles
170145a5-ed38-4f46-ab46-dd8dc956df03
Milic-Frayling, Natasa
d01195d8-81a1-43f7-a36f-d751b0afdf7b
schraefel, m.c.
ac304659-1692-47f6-b892-15113b8c929f

Gomer, Richard Charles, Milic-Frayling, Natasa and schraefel, m.c. (2014) The Grey Web: dataveillance vision fulfilled through the evolving Web Southampton, GB. University of Southampton 10pp.

Record type: Monograph (Project Report)

Abstract

Over the past three decades, Web has evolved from an information medium to an intricate economic ecosystem. Initially focused on supporting the transition from traditional business practices to e-commerce, the Web has given rise to new, purely Web based businesses. Aligned with the original vision and expectations of the ‘free Web’, they have provided free services but, over time, developed business models that leverage the user digital footprints and the user generated content to create economic value. With the use of computing technologies to analyze, aggregate, and share such data, individuals’ privacy has been undermined and, with that, the their ability to shape their role in the digital society and beyond. The purpose of this paper is to instigate the dialogue around the critical societal issues that arise from the current Web economy and motivate research initiatives to assist with addressing them. We present three case studies that quantify the extent, rate, and pervasiveness of the user tracking on the Web. We use them to illustrate the determining aspects of the Web that have to be taken into account by the Web Science community. As researchers we aspire to understand the nature of the Web in depth and, based on that, propose designs and policies that are required to ensure that the Web is fit to be the underpinning of our societies and our digital future.

Text
webData_techrep.pdf - Other
Download (890kB)

More information

Published date: April 2014
Keywords: privacy, security, surveillance, dataveillance, policy, economics, regulation
Organisations: Web & Internet Science, Agents, Interactions & Complexity

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 364394
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/364394
PURE UUID: 9b44c4ab-5bf8-4d41-80e3-82585c4e37d7
ORCID for m.c. schraefel: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-9061-7957

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 25 Apr 2014 09:43
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:16

Export record

Contributors

Author: Richard Charles Gomer
Author: Natasa Milic-Frayling
Author: m.c. schraefel ORCID iD

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×