Researchers create an application that ensures anonymity and trustworthiness
by Harrison Tasoff, University of California - Santa Barbara
The researchers created an internet browser extension that automatically verifies posts’ authenticity. The cryptographic signature, visible under each post on the left, is hidden when running the extension on the right. Credit: Michael Nekrasov
Minority and dissident communities face a perplexing challenge in countries with authoritarian governments. They need to remain anonymous to avoid persecution, but also must establish a trustworthy identity in their communications. An interdisciplinary group of researchers at UC Santa Barbara has designed an application to meet both of these requirements.
Computer science and communication researchers affiliated with the university's Center for Information Technology & Society traveled to three countries to assess the challenges minority groups face in maintaining a secure, trustworthy social media presence. Based on the communities' feedback, the team designed an app for the Android operating system that would safeguard group members' anonymity as well as verify the reliability of posts coming from the group. A paper detailing the technology appeared in the Journal of Internet Services and Applications.
https://techxplore.com/news/2019-01-application-anonymity-trustworthiness.html
