Online Behavioral Ads Fuel the Surveillance Industry—Here’s How
Online behavioral ads fuel the surveillance industry—Here's how by mishaderidder.eth13093 🥝 • 2y • 0 views • 0 clicks | |
AI summary of the linked articleThe article, published by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, argues that online behavioral advertising, specifically real-time bidding (RTB), fuels surveillance and should be banned. It explains that each bid request broadcasts personal data, such as location and advertising ID, to thousands of companies, and that anyone posing as an ad buyer can access it. It cites the FTC's first action over RTB data abuse against Mobilewalla, which collected data on over a billion people, with an estimated 60% sourced from RTB auctions. It also says data brokers sold bidstream data to government agencies, including the U.S. Defense Department and the FBI. | |
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 Oh wow, I knew how these ads work but never heard that you can actually harvest all this data without even making a bid. Idk how to solve it tbh, banning all these ads seem very unlikely.  Yes, same here, that’s why I curated it. You think you know until you know ;) The article suggests a ban: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/03/ban-online-behavioral-advertising I saw, but it seemed... not realistic. These behavioral ads generate billions of dollars - both for those selling ads as well as those buying them to promote their products. So banning such a giant industry is highly unlikely. Maybe there's a way to solve this problem with some encryption magic? That might be interesting idea! I’m also wondering how effective blocking locally is. I’m using a Proton VPN + Orion privacy browser. I must admit I almost never see an ad. But wondering if (part of) my data and surfing behavior is somehow still tracked and getting out. Like your browser and computer also have a certain fingerprint. If feel it’s impossible to really protect yourself from being surveilled. (But still happy I don’t see any ads.)  The RTB scene evolved quite a bit since I last was in contact with them. As for non-browser data you could also look into something simple and effective as pi-hole to block data outflow (for more targeting) and ad inflow. My TV and other entertainment devices are seemingly quite chatty. | |
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