Podcasts Government Iowa City Community Television Service Iowa City Foreign Relations Council Presents: Tracking and Surveillance in the Online Advertising Ecosystem

Iowa City Foreign Relations Council Presents: Tracking and Surveillance in the Online Advertising Ecosystem

Published: Dec. 8, 2016, 10 a.m.

A large fraction of services on the Internet are supported using online ads. Websites such as Google and Facebook rely on online advertising to support free services such as search, email, social networking, video, etc. In this talk, Zubair will highlight a new tussle in the online advertising ecosystem. Online publishers track user activities, e.g., using cookies, to target customized ads. The online advertising ecosystem has come under fire recently. For example, latest research has shown that most ads degrade user experience and some even spread malware. Furthermore, Edward Snowden's leaks revealed large-scale surveillance programs by government spy agencies that use cookies to profile individuals. To counter the negative impact of online advertising, ad blocking tools have become increasingly popular over the last few years. The rise of ad blocking tools has started an arms race between end-users and publishers.

M. Zubair Shafiq is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at The University of Iowa. He is also a part of the Iowa Informatics Initiative. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Michigan State University in 2014. He received his bachelor's degree from National University of Sciences and Technology Pakistan in 2008.

For more information on the Foreign Relations Council visit their website.