back to article Oops. Apple relied on bad code while flaming Google Chrome's Topics ad tech

Apple last week celebrated a slew of privacy changes coming to its Safari browser and took the time to bash rival Google for its Topics system that serves online ads based on your Chrome history. The iPhone maker, citing a research paper by Yohan Beugin and Patrick McDaniel from University of Wisconsin-Madison, claims Topics …

  1. JustAnotherDistro

    Deck chairs on the Titanic

    Arguing about percentage margins offered by "privacy preserving" behavior tracking in a browser...see title.

    The privacy ship has sailed, has hit the iceberg, and has sunk. Those of us with PiHoles must ever enhance our roster of blocklists; uBlock also adds a layer of obfuscation; and how much is that all worth, when fingerprinting can be combined with our credit card histories, debit card records, Amazon order history, Venmo surveillance and so on--all of which are for sale to any bidder? The Venmo terms alone are discouraging.

    1. mark l 2 Silver badge

      Re: Deck chairs on the Titanic

      I use a similar mixture of technologies Adgaurd and Ublock, plus Firefox containers to avoid targeted ads and tracking.

      I am sure Google knows that ive never clicked on an advert in the last decade and that when i visit their sites I don't get shown any ads. So the question is am i listed down that my data is pretty worthless to their desire to try and target me with ads since I block them and how long before Google decide its not worth allowing users who disallow the ads to carry on using their services for free?

      1. Irongut Silver badge

        Re: Deck chairs on the Titanic

        > how long before Google decide its not worth allowing users who disallow the ads

        This has already begun. See YouTube and blocking third-party clients that don't show ads.

        For the last few weeks STube has been usable every other day as the author updates it to get around Google's constantly changing blocks. On the days when it doesn't work, I just don't watch YouTube.

  2. Sora2566 Silver badge

    Okay, but like... I don't want a 3% re-identification rate either? Especially when Topics are just going to be one data point amongst a sea of other data points? I want that re-identification rate to be zero - or at maximum 0.0001%.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I think it should be made mandatory that the executives of any company found grabbing personal details withou permission don't just get fined, they should be forced to publich the exact personal details they were collecting, but of themselves, and keep them up to date for a minimum of two years.

    It could reduce their enthusiasm somewhat.

    1. Anna Nymous
      Megaphone

      ...and all their loved ones.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Other possible issue with the research:

    The database of webbrowsing is self-selected - in this case 1200 German users who were paid for their data.

    Are we looking at a broad spectrum of users or a more focussed group? This could mean the topics of interest are less spread than in the real world with the result that there is more overlap of interests. This could mean the the anonymising effect could be less with a more representative group. (think spotting a particular sheep in two pics of a flock against picking it out among a mixture of sheep and goats)

  5. nonoj

    Yes, given the present state of mass surveillance, tracking, data collection and sharing, it is nearly impossible to avoid use the internet in a private way. But rather than give up entirely I choose to reduce my digital fingerprint where I can. That way if nothing else I can say, even if only to myself, whatever information was gathered was done without my consent.

    My current configuration is Mullvad browser, VPN, and Little Snitch along with a security suite for live virus scanning. If I want to watch a YT video I drop the YT link into the DuckDuckGo browser where I have Duck Player defaulted so I can watch the video w/o ads, suggestions, and all the other unnecessary stuff YT adds to their videos.

    I also have well over 100 email addresses, one for each online entity I have a relationship with. If the entity suffers a breach I simply change the email address I have for that entity and discard the old one. And if I receive spam on one of those email addresses, I know exactly which entity to contact about it. In one case, my doing that led them to discovering some bad code that was broadcasting email to the wrong people. In another case the entity had shared my email address with a marketing firm and I started receiving spam. I tore the entity a new one, discarded the email address an never heard from either the entity nor the marketing firm again. Had I used a single email address I wouldn't have even known who I got the spam from.

    I am also providing misinformation where I can. Age, gender race, religious affiliation, income, work experience and so on I gladly fill in with anything but the correct information. If I someday receive a solicitation targeting a 24 year old descendant of the Inca Empire living in Botswana with a degree in lead typesetting and making $230K a year, you won't be able to wipe the smile off my face.

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