Introducing the Covert Accountability Privacy Framework to Inform the Design and Analysis of a Data Traceability Protocol
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thipireddy-shreyat-meng-eecs-2026-thesis.pdf
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1.07 MB
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Adobe PDF
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a2c5971b4f77b44c5e55f411fc92dd96
Author(s)
Thipireddy, Shreya R.
Advisor(s)
Weitzner, Daniel J.
Date Issued
February 2026
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
As personal data is increasingly shared across complex, multi-party ecosystems, individuals and regulators lack effective mechanisms to understand, verify, and enforce how data is used after consent is given. Existing privacy technologies largely focus on access control and confidentiality, offering limited support for accountability once data is legitimately accessed. This thesis explores covert accountability as a new privacy-engineering framework that shifts the focus from preventing misuse to ensuring that misuse is detectable, attributable, and legally actionable.
This work contributes a formal definition of covert accountability, clarifying how it differs from traditional security and privacy threat models, and identifies the assumptions under which it provides meaningful deterrence. We develop evaluation criteria and metrics to assess whether covert accountability has been satisfied.
We see this framework in action within the data privacy field, and specifically, through the design and analysis of OTrace, a data traceability protocol that requires institutions to show what sensitive data they’re using, how they are using it and for what purpose. We see that OTrace provides transparency into data-driven systems where absolute technical control is neither feasible nor desirable. And outline next steps to be taken under the covert accountability framework for a more complete solution to data rights enforceability.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
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