John Battelle found out about research being done to identify users online by the unique way each user interacts with their keyboards. I briefly looked at the report using Pertinence Summarizer (because it’s not easy to read a 34 page scientific paper on a Sunday evening) and what I got out of it was online behavior could be broken down to 800 unique datasets that, with sufficient input, could identify most users by their online behavior. Battelle’s comments were focused on the lack of privacy this method, if employed, would entail.
"The paper is reviewed in Wharton’s online publication. What I find rather irritating in the coverage (I have not read the paper yet) is there is precious little discussion of privacy issues, and none of government abuse. It strikes me that at the end of the day, these are the two most important issues facing the deployment of such a technology. Who knew your keyboard and mouse, in essence, are transferring your fingerprints across the web?"
While it’s possible for users to be identified by their online behavior, it’s not likely, at this time, to be done without a users consent (which will limit the effectiveness since not too many people will agree to this). ON the other hand there may be more in the paper where I might change my opinion were I to read it more closely.
