Semantic microaggregation for the anonymization of query logs using the open directory project

Web search engines gather information from the queries performed by the user in the form of query logs. These logs are extremely useful for research, marketing, or profiling, but at the same time they are a great threat to the user's privacy. We provide a novel approach to anonymize query logs...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Erola, Arnau, Castellà-Roca, Jordi|||0000-0002-0037-9888, Navarro-Arribas, Guillermo|||0000-0003-3535-942X, Torra, Vicenç
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2011
País:España
Institución:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ddd.uab.cat:97847
Acceso en línea:https://ddd.uab.cat/record/97847
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Privacy
Web search engines
Query logs
K-anonymity
Microaggregation
Semantic
Descripción
Sumario:Web search engines gather information from the queries performed by the user in the form of query logs. These logs are extremely useful for research, marketing, or profiling, but at the same time they are a great threat to the user's privacy. We provide a novel approach to anonymize query logs so they ensure user k-anonymity, by extending a common method used in statistical disclosure control: microaggregation. Furthermore, our microaggregation approach takes into account the semantics of the queries by relying on the Open Directory Project. We have tested our proposal with real data from AOL query logs.