From Assent to Advertiser: Mapping the Technical Pipeline of User Data Passage from Corporate Consent to Advertising
Academic Level at Time of Presentation
Senior
Major
Cybersecurity and Network Management
Minor
Digital Forensics Track
List all Project Mentors & Advisor(s)
Dr. Faris Sahawneh
Presentation Format
Oral Presentation
Abstract/Description
Consumer personal data can move through a complex network of platforms, data brokers, advertising exchanges, and analytics services within seconds of a user interacting with a website or mobile application. This study investigates the technical and legal pipeline through which personal data moves from initial digital consent, such as accepting Terms of Service or Privacy Policies, to its eventual use and monetization within the advertising technology (AdTech) ecosystem. Using a forensic data privacy methodology combined with a cyber-risk analysis framework, the research maps the technical mechanisms involved in data collection, ingestion, profiling, and Real-Time Bidding (RTB), while examining the legal instruments that authorize, regulate, or potentially obscure these transfers. The study identifies categories of technical and privacy malpractice and examines forensic methods for detecting and documenting potentially unauthorized or inappropriate data disclosures. The study analyzes technical artifacts, including OpenRTB bid requests, tracking-pixel payloads, mobile SDK telemetry, and privacy-related CI/CD configurations, to show how personal information moves across the AdTech ecosystem. The study uses tools such as Wireshark and Burp Suite to examine data flows. Finally, the research evaluates regulatory and technical safeguards and examines how cyber-insurance frameworks assess, price, transfer, and litigate risks associated with privacy violations and data exposure. The study provides an interdisciplinary framework for understanding what happens to personal information after a user clicks “Agree.”
Fall Scholars Week 2026
Honors College Senior Thesis Presentations
From Assent to Advertiser: Mapping the Technical Pipeline of User Data Passage from Corporate Consent to Advertising
Consumer personal data can move through a complex network of platforms, data brokers, advertising exchanges, and analytics services within seconds of a user interacting with a website or mobile application. This study investigates the technical and legal pipeline through which personal data moves from initial digital consent, such as accepting Terms of Service or Privacy Policies, to its eventual use and monetization within the advertising technology (AdTech) ecosystem. Using a forensic data privacy methodology combined with a cyber-risk analysis framework, the research maps the technical mechanisms involved in data collection, ingestion, profiling, and Real-Time Bidding (RTB), while examining the legal instruments that authorize, regulate, or potentially obscure these transfers. The study identifies categories of technical and privacy malpractice and examines forensic methods for detecting and documenting potentially unauthorized or inappropriate data disclosures. The study analyzes technical artifacts, including OpenRTB bid requests, tracking-pixel payloads, mobile SDK telemetry, and privacy-related CI/CD configurations, to show how personal information moves across the AdTech ecosystem. The study uses tools such as Wireshark and Burp Suite to examine data flows. Finally, the research evaluates regulatory and technical safeguards and examines how cyber-insurance frameworks assess, price, transfer, and litigate risks associated with privacy violations and data exposure. The study provides an interdisciplinary framework for understanding what happens to personal information after a user clicks “Agree.”