diff --git a/introduction.tex b/introduction.tex index 5fe5b7a..c54e41e 100644 --- a/introduction.tex +++ b/introduction.tex @@ -1,4 +1,28 @@ \chapter{Introduction} \label{chap:introduction} +The Internet has seen an unprecedented rise in traffic over the last few years +which is accelerating still. Due to this growth, an increasing amount of user +data is sent over the Internet. This user data is analyzed by companies in big +industries such as social networking, advertising, internet service providers +and news web sites. Although many services online appear to be free for +individual users, the companies behind them have to sustain themselves and make +profits every year. This has led to firms working extensively with user data to +extract meaningful information from the way users use their services. The +collected and inferred information can then be sold to interested parties which +allows those parties to personalize their service, yielding higher customer +engagement and thus higher profits. The end users themselves receive the short +end of the stick by---often unconsciously---giving away their data without +gaining much in turn. Because the means of data collection on the Internet are +becoming increasingly invasive and omnipresent, tools to defend against such +privacy intrusions are developed. It is beneficial to users to know how web +sites are tracking their customers so that they can protect themselves against +these tracking mechanisms. The aim of this thesis is to give an overview of +tracking methods and tools to defend oneself against them. It seeks to answer +the underlying research question of \emph{Which stateful tracking methods are +used to track individuals on the Internet and which countermeasures exist?} + +\section{Terms and Scope} +\label{sec:terms and scope} +