Internet's address book is becoming more private, but DNS still exposes browsing patterns

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When you enter a web address into your browser and arrive at the correct website a second later, a process takes place that most people never notice. Behind the scenes, one of the internet's most important systems is at work: DNS, the Domain Name System. In his doctoral thesis, computer scientist Jonathan Magnusson investigates how effectively today's DNS infrastructure protects users' privacy and what shortcomings remain.

September 3, 2026

by Karlstad University

edited by Swati Mestri, reviewed by Andrew Zinin

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DNS is often described as the internet's address book. The system translates domain names, such as kau.se, into the IP addresses that computers use to communicate with one another. Without DNS, the internet would be far more difficult to use. At the same time, every DNS lookup involves information about the websites a user wants to visit being passed through several different servers.

"At its core, computers, smartphones, tablets and servers need to be identified using IP addresses. These addresses are easy for machines to use but difficult for humans to remember. Domain names were therefore introduced and linked to those addresses, much like a contact list on a phone links a person's name to a telephone number," Magnusson says.

The challenge is that, in some cases, domain names can reveal sensitive information about users. The websites we visit may offer clues about our interests, habits or activities. As a result, a number of technical solutions have been developed to strengthen privacy protection within the DNS system.

In his thesis, Measuring Adoption, Implementation, and Impact of Available Privacy Solutions in DNS Resolvers, Magnusson examines how these privacy-enhancing mechanisms are used in practice. Through extensive internet measurements conducted across different parts of the world, he investigated both how widely these solutions have been adopted and how well they perform in real-world environments.

The results show that privacy protection has gradually improved. An increasing number of DNS operators are deploying technologies that encrypt traffic or reduce the amount of information shared during the lookup process. However, the thesis also demonstrates that the introduction of new privacy solutions is not always straightforward.

Despite significant progress, technical shortcomings, configuration errors and differences between implementations still exist. The findings also point to growing centralization, with a small number of major providers playing an increasingly dominant role.

At the same time, there is an ongoing discussion about the balance between privacy and oversight. Could stronger protection of user data make it more difficult to detect malicious activity online? Magnusson believes there is a trade-off but argues that DNS has historically exposed more information than necessary.

"For a long time, DNS has been a system where everyone could see everything. The challenge now is to secure these systems so that unnecessary information is no longer disclosed. The result is that the websites individuals visit become more private and are not exposed to third parties that users may not even be aware of."

Jonathan Magnusson, Measuring Adoption, Implementation, and Impact of Available Privacy Solutions in DNS Resolvers, (). DOI: 10.59217/mwtl6138

Key concepts Post-quantum cryptographyDigital privacy risksCybersecurity frameworks Provided by Karlstad University Who's behind this story? Swati Mestri

Swati Mestri holds a bachelor's degree in Electronics Engineering and has worked as a content editor since 2019. She has experience editing research documents across technology, health care, and materials science, and has a particular interest in technology and space. Full profile →

Master's in physics with research experience. Long-time science news enthusiast. Plays key role in Science X's editorial success. Full profile →

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