Six months ago we released the initial version of BlockSci, a fast and expressive tool to analyze public blockchains. In the accompanying paper we explained how we used it to answer scientific questions about security, privacy, miner behavior, and economics using blockchain data. BlockSci has a number of other applications including forensics and as an […]
New Jersey Takes Up Net Neutrality: A Summary, and My Experiences as a Witness
On Monday afternoon, I testified before the New Jersey State Assembly Committee on Science, Technology, and Innovation, which is chaired by Assemblyman Andrew Zwicker, who also happens to represent Princeton’s district. On the committee agenda were three bills related to net neutrality. Let’s quickly review the recent events. In December 2017, the Federal Communications Commission […]
The Rise of Artificial Intelligence: Brad Smith at Princeton University
What will artificial intelligence mean for society, jobs, and the economy? Speaking today at Princeton University is Brad Smith, President and Chief Legal Officer of Microsoft. I was in the audience and live-blogged Brad’s talk. CITP director Ed Felten introduces Brad’s lecture by saying that the tech industry is at a crossroads. With the rise […]
No boundaries for credentials: New password leaks to Mixpanel and Session Replay Companies
In this installment of the “No Boundaries” series we show how wholesale collection of user interactions by third-party analytics and session replay scripts cause inadvertent collection of passwords. By Steve Englehardt, Gunes Acar and Arvind Narayanan Following the recent report that Mixpanel, a popular analytics provider, had been inadvertently collecting passwords that users typed into […]
Blockchain: What is it good for?
Blockchain and cryptocurrencies are surrounded by world-historic levels of hype and snake oil. For people like me who take the old-fashioned view that technical claims should be backed by sound arguments and evidence, it’s easy to fall into the trap of concluding that there is no there there–and that blockchain and cryptocurrencies are fundamentally useless. […]