Deep Packet Inspection – Security Tool or Privacy Nightmare?

Deep Packet Inspection, or DPI, is an acronym for any type of computer system that is designed to inspect all the information that passes through a particular point on a network. It’s commonly used to provide network security and defeat certain kinds of viruses…but some people are concerned that DPI is used for more sinister purposes.

DPI can be used to ’sniff out’ emails, record VOIP phone calls (like Vonage or Skype), and check for illegal file transfers (like sharing your favorite MP3’s with a friend). DPI can also be used to prevent a virus from destroying a network and/or harming an individual’s computer. DPI is the Internet equivalent of a hand gun – good in the right hands (police), bad in the wrong hands (criminals).

For example, many Internet service providers use a form of DPI to check all the data the comes to or from their consumers for viruses. Any virtual private network (commonly found in any large corporation) uses a form of DPI to make certain that network data is being shared with the right people.

The U.S. government is said to operate a DPI system for all internet data that enters or leaves the USA (I don’t know if I believe that, but it seems possible) for the purposes of identifying terrorists.

The government of China uses DPI to censor Internet use – the same goes for Iran.

Amazingly, Google’s free GMail system uses DPI to read your email and show you ads that match the content of your inbox.

DPI isn’t necessarily sinister – it has many good and decent uses. Of course, in the wrong hands, it’s bad news.

By this point, I hope you’re asking “What does this have to do with Internet marketing?”

The answer – make sure your website has a privacy policy that’s clear and easy to understand…and then make sure your business follows that policy. Consumers are understandably paranoid about privacy, and technologies like deep packet inspection only add to the hysteria. Having a privacy policy on your website shows that you understand their concerns. A privacy policy also offers you some legal protections.

Finally, and most importantly (at least to me), having a privacy policy on your website is considered an indicator of quality by the major search engines. Google, Bing, and Yahoo all like websites that explain their privacy policy.

In other words, if you haven’t done so already, put a privacy policy on your website (feel free to use our privacy policy as a template for your own, by the way).

Also, don’t worry about DPI – they would have arrested you by now if you were really in trouble!