Bots can Snoop: Uncovering and Mitigating Privacy Risks of Bots in Group Chats

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Chou, Kai-Hsiang, Lin, Yi-Min, Wang, Yi-An, Li, Jonathan Weiping, Kim, Tiffany Hyun-Jin, Hsiao, Hsu-Chun
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Chou, Kai-Hsiang
Lin, Yi-Min
Wang, Yi-An
Li, Jonathan Weiping
Kim, Tiffany Hyun-Jin
Hsiao, Hsu-Chun
author_facet Chou, Kai-Hsiang
Lin, Yi-Min
Wang, Yi-An
Li, Jonathan Weiping
Kim, Tiffany Hyun-Jin
Hsiao, Hsu-Chun
contents New privacy concerns arise with chatbots on group messaging platforms. Chatbots may access information beyond their intended functionalities, such as sender identities or messages unintended for chatbots. Chatbot developers may exploit such information to infer personal information and link users across groups, potentially leading to data breaches, pervasive tracking, or targeted advertising. Our analysis of conversation datasets shows that (1) chatbots often access far more messages than needed, and (2) when a user joins a new group with chatbots, there is a 3.6% chance that at least one of the chatbots can recognize and associate the user with their previous interactions in other groups. Although state-of-the-art (SoA) group messaging protocols provide robust end-to-end encryption and some platforms have implemented policies to limit chatbot access, no platforms successfully combine these features. This paper introduces SnoopGuard, a secure group messaging protocol that ensures user privacy against chatbots while maintaining strong end-to-end security. Our protocol offers (1) selective message access, preventing chatbots from accessing unrelated messages, and (2) sender anonymity, hiding user identities from chatbots. SnoopGuard achieves $O(\log n + m)$ message-sending complexity for a group of $n$ users and $m$ chatbots, compared to $O(\log(n + m))$ in SoA protocols, with acceptable overhead for enhanced privacy. Our prototype implementation shows that sending a message to a group of 50 users and 10 chatbots takes about 10 milliseconds when integrated with Message Layer Security (MLS).
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2410_06587
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Bots can Snoop: Uncovering and Mitigating Privacy Risks of Bots in Group Chats
Chou, Kai-Hsiang
Lin, Yi-Min
Wang, Yi-An
Li, Jonathan Weiping
Kim, Tiffany Hyun-Jin
Hsiao, Hsu-Chun
Cryptography and Security
New privacy concerns arise with chatbots on group messaging platforms. Chatbots may access information beyond their intended functionalities, such as sender identities or messages unintended for chatbots. Chatbot developers may exploit such information to infer personal information and link users across groups, potentially leading to data breaches, pervasive tracking, or targeted advertising. Our analysis of conversation datasets shows that (1) chatbots often access far more messages than needed, and (2) when a user joins a new group with chatbots, there is a 3.6% chance that at least one of the chatbots can recognize and associate the user with their previous interactions in other groups. Although state-of-the-art (SoA) group messaging protocols provide robust end-to-end encryption and some platforms have implemented policies to limit chatbot access, no platforms successfully combine these features. This paper introduces SnoopGuard, a secure group messaging protocol that ensures user privacy against chatbots while maintaining strong end-to-end security. Our protocol offers (1) selective message access, preventing chatbots from accessing unrelated messages, and (2) sender anonymity, hiding user identities from chatbots. SnoopGuard achieves $O(\log n + m)$ message-sending complexity for a group of $n$ users and $m$ chatbots, compared to $O(\log(n + m))$ in SoA protocols, with acceptable overhead for enhanced privacy. Our prototype implementation shows that sending a message to a group of 50 users and 10 chatbots takes about 10 milliseconds when integrated with Message Layer Security (MLS).
title Bots can Snoop: Uncovering and Mitigating Privacy Risks of Bots in Group Chats
topic Cryptography and Security
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.06587