Session Date/Time: 05 Nov 2024 16:30

pearg

Summary

The pearg session at IETF 121 included presentations and discussions on internet measurement safety, the impact of ECMP routing on censorship measurement, and practical private information retrieval for key-value queries. The session focused on technical challenges and potential solutions related to privacy and censorship in internet measurements and applications.

Key Discussion Points

Guidelines for Safe Internet Measurement:
- The current draft focuses on user safety and privacy during internet measurements.
- Open issues include clarifying the scope, addressing bias towards high-risk individuals, and aligning with IMC guidelines.
- Feedback from the community emphasized the need for a more positive and instructive tone in the guidelines, providing solutions rather than just highlighting problems.
Impact of ECMP Routing on Censorship Measurement:
- ECMP routing can significantly affect censorship measurement results due to path diversity based on source IP and port.
- Measurement studies must account for censorship along the path, not just at the destination.
- There was discussion about the applicability of the research to both outside-in and inside-out censorship measurement scenarios.
- Potential use of ECMP-induced routing variations for censorship circumvention was discussed.
Practical Private Information Retrieval (PIR):
- A new PIR scheme was presented that is efficient for key-value pair databases, utilizing binary fuse filters.
- The scheme's practical performance (milliseconds query times) makes it viable for applications like compromised credential checking and safe browsing.
- Discussions included potential applications, comparisons with other techniques (e.g., private set membership), and future research directions like handling mutable databases.

Decisions and Action Items

Guidelines for Safe Internet Measurement:
- Gushabad will revise the draft to address the negative tone by including examples of how to fix issues and providing a more positive framing.
- Gushabad will re-review and align the draft with IMC guidelines.
- Expect a new version of the draft next month, followed by a possible RGLC (Research Group Last Call).
Impact of ECMP Routing on Censorship Measurement:
- Abhishek to consider feedback on symmetrical censorship.

Next Steps

Gushabad to revise and update the Internet Measurement Guidelines draft.
Abhishek to continue research on ECMP routing impact and possible circumvention techniques.
Explore potential collaboration with relevant IETF working groups to integrate PIR schemes in applicable protocols.