mcc (@mcc@mastodon.social)
mastodon.social
Attached: 1 image So this, from Firefox, is fucking toxic: https://mstdn.social/@Lokjo/112772496939724214 You might be aware Chrome— a browser made by an ad company— has been trying to claw back the limitations recently placed on ad networks by the death of third-party cookies, and added new features that gather and report data directly to ad networks. You'd know this because Chrome displayed a popup. If you're a Firefox user, what you probably don't know is Firefox added this feature and *has already turned it on without asking you*
  • dohpaz42@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    2 months ago

    Has anybody actually looked up Privacy-Preserving Advertising?

    This is Firefox’s attempt at removing PII from advertising. This is the opposite of what all ad networks do. The browser keeps track of what ads you’re shown, and whether you’ve visited the advertiser, and encrypts the data and sends it to an aggregation service that will then generate a report for the advertiser.

    This is a trial service that they are currently testing with a small number of advertisers. This is probably why it’s opt-out. They need data to determine its effectiveness. Could they have been more upfront about it? Sure. Are they evil for doing it? Not a by a long shot.

    Put your pitchforks and torches down. This is a nothing burger right now.

    • BearOfaTime@lemm.eeEnglish
      1·
      2 months ago

      They did it behind the scenes, not announcing it.

      If it’s such a good thing, why didn’t they come out and say so?

      Oh, because it’s not.

      • RedditWanderer@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        2 months ago

        Because they don’t want to scare advertisers.

        Instead of the traditional model of serving ads using identifiable data gathered by your browser, it takes the data and aggregates it to make profile type reports that advertisers can use instead of tracking you personally. It basically makes you anonymous while still serving general data to advertisers. This is a pro consumer experiment they did not need to work on.

        Sure it’s not ad-blocking, but it’s better than feeding your personal info indiscriminately like some other browsers I could name…

        They did mention it in the change logs, but they didn’t make it opt-out.

        • drspod@lemmy.mlEnglish
          1·
          2 months ago

          Because they don’t want to scare advertisers.

          This tells you everything you need to know. If Firefox was acting in the interests of users then they wouldn’t give a fuck what advertisers think.

    • drspod@lemmy.mlEnglish
      0·
      2 months ago

      The point is that this is not something that users want, it’s something that advertisers want. Why is Firefox pandering to advertisers and corporate interests? No user wants this, and Firefox is supposed to be a non-commercial browser built with the interests of its users in mind.

      • 4am@lemm.eeEnglish
        0·
        2 months ago

        Because you dont pay them and Google isn’t gonna forever. Money’s gotta come from somewhere.

        I’d rather they create something better than what we have now because if you think you will ever live in a world without advertising, you’re unfortunately completely wrong.