Author Topic: Interesting article on advertising vs privacy  (Read 3709 times)

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Offline F eq ma

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Interesting article on advertising vs privacy
« on: Wed, 19 January 2022, 22:23:41 »
Found the following an interesting read.   Thought I would share.

https://freedom-to-tinker.com/2021/11/22/signal-loss-and-advertising-privacy-on-facebook/

Made me recall when people would add keywords to emails to disrupt searching algorithms.   Could a browser flood random advertising bits to disrupt the data collection?   Could the public hijack the system to make tracking impossible.  I suspect not.   It is a whack a mole with advertising having deep pockets always winning.   In a way, the same dynamic is with hacker groups.  We can react, but always in the defense.

Offline ddot

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Offline jennyluce

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Re: Interesting article on advertising vs privacy
« Reply #2 on: Fri, 21 January 2022, 03:48:13 »
That is really awesome.

Offline Stupidface

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Re: Interesting article on advertising vs privacy
« Reply #3 on: Sun, 23 January 2022, 23:13:07 »
Found the following an interesting read.   Thought I would share.

https://freedom-to-tinker.com/2021/11/22/signal-loss-and-advertising-privacy-on-facebook/

It is a worthwhile article (the "signal loss" euphemism was of particular interest for students of doubletalk like myself).  However, to my mind this quote places it in, "believe it when you see it, not before" territory:

Quote
In this article I’ll discuss some indications that Facebook is beginning to adjust its advertising-tracking model so they can make money without invading your privacy quite as much.

I am unclear as to why they would want to change their multi billion-dollar making ways when their proven and lucrative business model is entirely predicated on violating the privacy of its users. 

The author of the article seems willing to put his faith into Facebook changing its ways, but the vague "indications" he describes are not, to my mind, very convincing.  From a cost/benefit perspective, I should think it far cheaper for Zuckerbook to simply buy off irksome politicians as needed and continue to keep doing what they have always done: contrive new and interesting ways to violate the privacy of their users.

Having said that, I do find MPC an interesting concept and I thank you for bringing it to my attention; it sounds like a collaborative tool with great potential.  And whilst I am sceptical that Zuckerbook has any incentive to pay it more than token attention, I am always delighted to be pleasantly surprised.

Some years ago, a chap at IBM came up with a superb chart to show Zuckerbook users what the platform was doing to them:

http://www.mattmckeon.com/facebook-privacy/

It would be wonderful if the *book people would change their ways to the point where an updated chart would show user privacy expanding rather than contracting.

(I'll believe it when I see it.)

« Last Edit: Sun, 23 January 2022, 23:23:25 by Stupidface »

Offline fohat.digs

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Re: Interesting article on advertising vs privacy
« Reply #4 on: Mon, 24 January 2022, 08:49:35 »

buy off irksome politicians as needed


The story of the downfall of US society in 6 words.

An excellent book that places these problems in historical context:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28503628-the-attention-merchants
"However, even though I was born in the Mesozoic, I do know what anyone who wants to reach out to young people should say: Billionaires took your money. They took your chance to buy a home. They took your chance at a good education. They stole your opportunities. Billionaires took the things you want in life. If you really want those things, you have to take them back.
That's the message. That's the whole message. Say that every day, not just to reach America's frustrated young white men, but people of every age, race, and gender.
Late-stage capitalism is a wealth-concentration engine, focused on vacuuming up every dollar and putting it in as few hands as possible. Republicans are helping that vacuum suck.
How does a tiny fraction of the population get away with this? They do it by dividing the other 99% of Americans against themselves."
- Marc Sumner 2025-05-30