1,390,458 research outputs found
Case study: disclosure of indirect device fingerprinting in privacy policies
Recent developments in online tracking make it harder for
individuals to detect and block trackers. This is especially true for de-
vice fingerprinting techniques that websites use to identify and track
individual devices. Direct trackers { those that directly ask the device
for identifying information { can often be blocked with browser configu-
rations or other simple techniques. However, some sites have shifted to
indirect tracking methods, which attempt to uniquely identify a device
by asking the browser to perform a seemingly-unrelated task. One type
of indirect tracking known as Canvas fingerprinting causes the browser
to render a graphic recording rendering statistics as a unique identifier.
Even experts find it challenging to discern some indirect fingerprinting
methods. In this work, we aim to observe how indirect device fingerprint-
ing methods are disclosed in privacy policies, and consider whether the
disclosures are sufficient to enable website visitors to block the track-
ing methods. We compare these disclosures to the disclosure of direct
fingerprinting methods on the same websites.
Our case study analyzes one indirect ngerprinting technique, Canvas
fingerprinting. We use an existing automated detector of this fingerprint-
ing technique to conservatively detect its use on Alexa Top 500 websites
that cater to United States consumers, and we examine the privacy poli-
cies of the resulting 28 websites. Disclosures of indirect fingerprinting
vary in specificity. None described the specific methods with enough
granularity to know the website used Canvas fingerprinting. Conversely,
many sites did provide enough detail about usage of direct fingerprint-
ing methods to allow a website visitor to reliably detect and block those
techniques.
We conclude that indirect fingerprinting methods are often technically
difficult to detect, and are not identified with specificity in legal privacy
notices. This makes indirect fingerprinting more difficult to block, and
therefore risks disturbing the tentative armistice between individuals and
websites currently in place for direct fingerprinting. This paper illustrates
differences in fingerprinting approaches, and explains why technologists,
technology lawyers, and policymakers need to appreciate the challenges
of indirect fingerprinting.Accepted manuscrip
Accurate fundamental parameters for 23 bright solar-type stars
We combine results from interferometry, asteroseismology and spectroscopy to
determine accurate fundamental parameters of 23 bright solar-type stars, from
spectral type F5 to K2 and luminosity classes III to V. For some stars we can
use direct techniques to determine the mass, radius, luminosity and effective
temperature, and we compare with indirect methods that rely on photometric
calibrations or spectroscopic analyses. We use the asteroseismic information
available in the literature to infer an indirect mass with an accuracy of 4-15
percent. From indirect methods we determine luminosity and radius to 3 percent.
For Teff we find a slight offset of -40+-20 K between the spectroscopic method
and the direct method, meaning the spectroscopic temperatures are too high.
From the spectroscopic analysis we determine the detailed chemical
composition for 13 elements, including Li, C and O. We find no significant
offset between the spectroscopic surface gravity and the value from combining
asteroseismology with radius estimates. From the spectroscopy we also determine
vsini and we present a new calibration of macro- and microturbulence. From the
comparison between the results from the direct and spectroscopic methods we
claim that we can determine Teff, log g, and [Fe/H] with absolute accuracies of
80 K, 0.08 dex, and 0.07 dex. The indirect methods are important to obtain
reliable estimates of the fundamental parameters of relatively faint stars when
interferometry cannot be used. Our study is the first to compare direct and
indirect methods for a large sample of stars, and we conclude that indirect
methods are valid, although slight corrections may be needed.Comment: Accepted by MNRAS. Abstract abridge
Indirect methods for measuring variations of the solar constant
The difference between the methods that measure delta S, and those that measure variations in the solar luminosity, delta L, is discussed. It is shown that the past practice of simply relating delta S to delta L by geometrical arguments is not valid because of anisotropy of the solar radiation. It is concluded that direct techniques prove the existence of short term variability that is fully explainable in terms of the passage of active regions (spots and faculae) on the face of the Sun. The obervations of changes in the solar diameter support the existence of structurally induced variations of the solar luminosity on timescales of tens of years, which are significant in the understanding of climatic variations
A Comparison of Bond Strength Between Direct- and Indirect-bonding Methods
The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the shear bond strength and the sites of bond failure for brackets bonded to teeth, using two indirect-bonding material protocols and a direct-bonding technique. Sixty extracted human premolars were collected and randomly divided into three groups. The direct-bonded group (group 1) used a light-cured adhesive and primer (Transbond XT). One indirect-bonded group (group 2) consisted of a chemical-cured primer (Sondhi Rapid Set) and light-cured adhesive (Transbond XT), whereas the other group (group 3) used a light-cured primer (Orthosolo) and adhesive (Enlight LV). Forty hours after bonding, the samples were debonded. Mean shear bond strengths were 16.27, 13.83, and 14.76 MPa for groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively. A one-way analysis of variance showed no significant difference in mean bond strength between groups (P = .21). Furthermore, a Weibull analysis showed all three groups tested provided over a 90% survival rate at normal masticatory and orthodontic force levels. For each tooth, an Adhesive Remnant Index (ARI) score was determined. Group 2 was found to have a significantly lower ARI score (P \u3c .05) compared with groups 1 and 3. In addition, Pearson correlation coefficients indicated no strong correlation between bond strength and ARI score within or across all groups
Indirect methods in nuclear astrophysics
We discuss recent developments in indirect methods used in nuclear astrophysics to determine the capture cross sections and subsequent rates of various stellar burning processes, when it is difficult to perform the corresponding direct measurements. We discuss in brief, the basic concepts of Asymptotic Normalization Coefficients, the Trojan Horse Method, the Coulomb Dissociation Method, (d,p), and charge-exchange reactions
Production Costs Management by Means of Indirect Cost Allocated Model
Management costs in a business system requires planning, budgeting, monitoring and comparing of all kinds of expenses. When calculating a production through the production order system there always seems to appear the same dilemma; which key or keys should be chosen for allocating indirect costs. As a result, in addition to the well-known classical methods for allocating indirect costs, a new method is developed in the form of a Model for allocating indirect costs. By applying the above-mentioned model, the classical methods are omitted from the process of allocation indirect costs, which contributes to an easier and faster planning, monitoring, comparing, and reducing costs.direct costs, indirect costs, allocation of costs
Limit analysis problem and its penalization
The contribution is focused on solution of the kinematic limit analysis problem within associative perfect plasticity. It is a constrained minimization problem describing a collapse state of an investigated body. Two different penalization methods are presented and interpreted as the truncation method and the indirect incremental method, respectively. It is shown that both methods are meaningful even within the continuous setting of the problem. Convergence with respect to penalty and discretization parameters is discussed. The indirect incremental method can be simply implemented within current elastoplastic codes
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