Research Impact
Uncovering Unlawful Brokerage and Telemarketing Spam
Lead generation websites act as "consent farms" where deceptive forms lure consumers into submitting personal and sensitive information to see insurance quotes, and that information is sold to numerous downstream buyers within minutes of submission. Consumers are then bombarded with relentless telemarketing that often uses unlawful sales tactics. I presented this work to economists, technologists, and policymakers at the FTC, which sparked ongoing collaboration with the FTC on enforcement and rulemaking directions. I also presented it at CNIL's Privacy Research Day, held alongside the G7 data protection authorities meeting, where it has led to ongoing collaboration with CNIL to study data practices in France.
Unlawful Consumer Surveillance by Smart TV Manufacturers via ACR Tracking
Smart TVs use Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) to record user's TV screen, even when used as an external display via HDMI, as often as every few milliseconds, and turn the recorded content into content fingerprints that build a holistic profile of each user's viewing habits. My research studies this tracking, showing that opt-ins are implicit, while opt-outs are buried under complex settings menus. The Texas Attorney General cited this work in lawsuits against five major TV manufacturers. Samsung and LG settled, agreeing to clear disclosures and affirmative express consent before collecting ACR data. Private class actions in federal court also cite this work.
Dark Pooling Based Ad Inventory Fraud in Online Advertising
Problematic websites exploit "dark pooling" in the ad-tech supply chain to sell their ad inventory under the identities of unrelated publishers, deceiving genuine ad buyers and inadvertently funding problematic content. With Check My Ads, I sent disclosures to 100+ Fortune 500 brands affected by this fraud and worked closely with several of them to defend against it. U.S. Congresswoman Lori Trahan's office also approached us for feedback on her bill to improve transparency in online advertising.