6.1. Privacy Considerations
6.1. Privacy Considerations
Privacy is an important consideration for applications using HTTP. Applications SHOULD:
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Minimize the amount of personal information collected and transmitted.
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Use TLS to protect personal information in transit.
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Be aware of what information might be logged by servers, intermediaries, or clients.
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Consider the privacy implications of caching, especially for shared caches.
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Provide users with control over their personal information.
Applications need to be aware of various ways that users can be tracked:
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Cookies: Cookies [COOKIES] can be used to track users across sessions and sites. Applications should use cookies responsibly and consider privacy-preserving alternatives where possible.
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IP addresses: IP addresses can be used to identify or locate users. Applications should be aware of this when logging or processing IP addresses.
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User-Agent: The
User-Agentheader field can reveal information about the user's browser and operating system, which can be used for fingerprinting. -
Referer: The
Refererheader field can leak information about what pages a user has visited. Applications might want to use Referrer Policy [REFERRER-POLICY] to control when this header field is sent. -
Timing attacks: The time it takes to process requests can leak information. Applications should be aware of this when dealing with sensitive operations like authentication.
Applications that handle personal information SHOULD:
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Comply with applicable privacy regulations (e.g., GDPR, CCPA).
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Have a clear privacy policy.
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Use appropriate technical measures to protect personal information.
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Consider using privacy-enhancing technologies such as differential privacy or secure multi-party computation where appropriate.
Applications SHOULD be aware that even seemingly innocuous information can be privacy-sensitive in the aggregate. For example, access patterns, timing information, or metadata can reveal sensitive information about users.
Applications that are designed to be used in sensitive contexts (e.g., healthcare, finance, or government) need to be particularly careful about privacy and might need to implement additional protections beyond what is described in this document.
Finally, applications SHOULD consider the privacy implications of third-party integrations, such as analytics services, advertising networks, or content delivery networks. Each integration introduces a potential privacy risk that needs to be carefully evaluated.