IRTF Privacy Enhancements and Assessments Research Group

The Privacy Enhancements and Assessments Research Group (PEARG) is a general forum for discussing and reviewing privacy enhancing technologies for network protocols and distributed systems in general, and for the IETF in particular. Its main objectives are as follows:

  1. Be a bridge between theory and practice, bringing new privacy-enhancing technologies from open source or academic communities to the wider Internet community and promoting an understanding of the use and applicability of these mechanisms via Informational or Experimental RFCs (in the tradition of HMAC RFC 2104).
  2. Reviewing privacy properties (informed by but not limited to the analysis in RFC 6973) of existing and emerging IETF protocols. In particular, engagement in review early in the design process is highly desirable.
  3. Developing specifications in the tradition of RFC 6973 that offer guidance for protocol design and development and advice on privacy-enhancement. This work will involve outreach to ensure close cooperation with similar and related efforts in the IETF.
  4. Providing a forum for discussion and analysis of the cryptographic and practical aspects of privacy protocols.
  5. Provide a forum for IETF working groups developing protocols that include privacy technology elements to bring questions concerning the protocols to the PEARG for advice.

PEARG aims to engage with academic and open source (e.g. Tor Project, EFF, OTF) communities and encourage specification of key privacy-enhancing technologies in Informational or Experimental RFCs. It also aims to engage with other organizations e.g. PETS, SOUPS, W3C and the Privacy Interest Group therein.

Current Research Group Documents.

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