This project aims at reconciling the benefits that personalization of web-based systems has demonstrably brought about with current privacy concerns of Internet users and with upcoming privacy regulation and legislation. The project will analyze and systemize these impacts, and develop principled solutions as to how privacy requirements and benefits through personalization can be reconciled. Specifically, an architecture for personalized systems will be developed that can be dynamically configured, so that the personalization methods in use are always in agreement with the current individual privacy preferences as well as the privacy policies and legislation that apply to the given user and the site of the application. Privacy will -- for the first time -- become a design requirement in the development of personalized software systems. The results of the project will benefit researchers in the area of privacy-enhancing technology, and developers of personalized websites who need to respect user privacy. The project outcomes will be published at academic venues, and disseminated to industry and the general public. The project will also contribute to the integration of research and teaching through the employment of undergraduate and graduate students, and through the inclusion of privacy issues into academic syllabi.
