By the Webroot Threat Team
Have you ever had the queasy experience of sending a message to someone that you’d rather not have anyone else see, and then hoping that it won’t get passed along? A new system developed by Internet law and security researchers aims to solve the problem, with a light-handed touch.
The Stanford Center for Internet and Society has launched Privicons, an email privacy tool that it describes as a ‘user-to-user’ solution. There are no policy servers, crypto algorithms, or software enforcement agents to worry about. Instead, it relies on good old-fashioned icons.
Webmail users who install the Privicons plugin can choose from a selection of icons that are then pasted into their mail. Each of the icons represents a specific request concerning how the information in the mail is treated. The icons are as follows:
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’Keep private’: Don’t pass on the information, or identify the sender. |
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’Keep anonymous’: Use the information freely, but don’t tell anyone who sent it to you. |
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’Don’t print’: This can be for environmental or security reasons. |
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’Delete after reading/X days’: Delete the information to avoid it falling into the wrong hands. |
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’Keep internal’: Keep it among a close circle of people. |
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’Please share’: Distribute freely. |
