Analysing ADEPT (Adobe Digital Experience Protection Technology)
Or… How DRM invades your privacy, and why this doesn’t have to be the case.
ADEPT (Adobe Digital Experience Protection Technology) is the DRM (Digital Rights Management) system developed by Adobe to protect ebooks. The description below is based on the Adobe Content Server 4 User Manual,
this paper, a github site (confirmed by my own traces) and the following
ADEPT hack.
Security + Privacy = …
One of the goals of the Revocable Privacy project is to show that security and privacy are not a zero sum game. The question is: if the sum is not zero, what is it…
De bel-me-niet fail
Vandaag werd ik (voor het eerst in jaren) weer eens gebeld voor een aanbieding. Ziggo dit keer. Iets met HBO. En nee ik was niet geinteresseerd… Vervolgens nam het gesprek een interessante wending. De dame aan de andere kant vertelde me dat ze me ging doorschakelen met het voice-response systeem van het bel-me-niet register. Daar was ze namelijk toe verplicht. So far so good.
Privacy protection as enabling technology.
Privacy is often seen as a barrier to innovation. It’s seen as something one has to comply to, instead of as an opportunity to create new business. It wasn’t that long ago that security was viewed the same way: security measures were just considered a nuisance that made it impossible to get your job done efficiently. Companies were reluctant to invest in proper security. Nowadays, security is seen more and more as an enabler. Without proper security, Internet banking and e-commerce are simply impossible, while both create a steady revenue, either by cutting operation cost or by increasing sales. Seen in this light, investing in security is a no-brainer.
The question is: can we see privacy protection as an enabler too? What kind of business will become possible if proper privacy protection is possible? Or, turning the question around: what kind of business opportunities fail to materialise because of privacy problems. I think there are several.
An unexpected privacy risk of anonymous credentials
Anonymous credentials are a privacy enhancing technology that allow you to prove certain properties about yourself, without revealing your full identity. Examples are showing your age, your gender, whether you are a member of a certain group, or your nationality, among others. Privacy advocates are advocating the widespread use of such technology. However, if a worldwide infrastructure for anonymous credentials would exist, this would actually create a funny privacy problem.
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