Source: securityboulevard.com – Author: Richi Jennings
“Privacy Sandbox” criticized as a proprietary, hypocritical, anti-competitive, self-serving contradiction.
Google says its Topics API is ready for prime time: The Privacy Sandbox technology is shipping in Chrome—finally. So, la GOOG is preparing to switch off tracking cookies in a few months: Hurrah!
Freedom from tracking or sinister land grab? In today’s SB Blogwatch, we see both sides.
Your humble blogwatcher curated these bloggy bits for your entertainment. Not to mention: Roasted sweet potato bread—in a can.
Firefox Looking Good Right Now
What’s the craic? Leigh McGowran reports—“How the cookies crumble”:
“Third-party cookie ban”
Google has hit a new milestone on its journey to ban third-party cookies, by making its Privacy Sandbox … available for most Chrome users. [It] lets users customise the type of ads they see on their browser, by sharing the ad topics they’re interested in and what relevance and measurement APIs they want enabled.
…
Google said it will let users simulate the third-party cookie ban towards the end of the year, to help the industry “bolster its testing efforts”. The company will then turn off third-party cookies for 1pc of Chrome users in the first quarter of 2024.
More detail? Abner Li’s got your back—“Privacy Sandbox in Chrome hits general availability”:
“Based on your browsing history”
This GA milestone, which is expected to hit 100% in the coming months, specifically applies to the relevance and measurement APIs, including Topics, Protected Audience (previously called FLEDGE), Attribution Reporting, Private Aggregation, Shared Storage, and Fenced Frames.
…
As part of this, Chrome has new Privacy Sandbox controls: …
Ad topics: Based on your browsing history, topics are “used by sites to show you personalized ads.” …
Site-suggested ads: “Sites you visit can determine what you like and then suggest ads.” …
Ad measurements: “Sites and advertisers can measure the performance of their ads.”
Horse’s mouth? GOOG VP Anthony Chavez—“Privacy Sandbox for the Web”:
“Ad privacy controls”
We believe it is vital to both improve privacy and preserve access to information, whether it’s news, a how-to-guide, or a fun video. Without viable privacy-preserving alternatives to third-party cookies, such as the Privacy Sandbox, we risk reducing access to information for all users, and incentivizing invasive tactics such as fingerprinting.
…
We’ve also rolled out new Ad privacy controls in Chrome that allow people to manage how the Privacy Sandbox technologies may be used to deliver the ads they see. These controls allow users to tailor their experience by customizing what ad topics they’re interested in, what relevance and measurement APIs they want enabled, and more.
Sounds great, right? James Rosewell and his secret cabal disagree—“Claims and Contradictions”:
“Based on a flawed premise”
Google … once again attempts to justify its anti-competitive Privacy Sandbox platform. … But here’s the catch: Google is advocating for the removal of rivals’ … cookies under the pretext of theoretical possibility that they could be used to identify individuals.
…
[Privacy Sandbox] is really just a thinly veiled attempt by Google to substitute its own ad solutions for the competitive market of other business-facing solution providers. [It] is an attempt by a monopolist to remove … the cookie and replace it with a system that is owned and controlled by the company itself.
…
The Sandbox initiative is based on a flawed premise: That rivals’ anonymised identifiers are a greater privacy risk than Google’s.
As does Dixie-Flatline:
I’m surprised this is going off without much scrutiny, particularly from the EU. … The only way they can get away with forcing the entire website publishing industry into using their cookie replacement is … Chrome has a greater than 60% market share of all web browsers.
…
This feels like monopoly strong-arm tactics: A “do this or lose” situation. I’m sure Google will benefit the most from a shift to their own tailored format.
Sounds evil. u/JCRUXTheUberElite is disgusted:
Ew. Glad I switched to Firefox. [Chrome] went from being the best browser to adding the worst features/taking good things away.
Time to switch to Firefox? Mechjaz channels “normal” people:
The rest of the world: “What do you mean? They just told me it was more private than ever! Why on earth would I switch?”
…
That’s some cynical **** packaging it in with the redesign, too. **** you, Google.
Actions speak louder than words. PhrostyMcByte is a self-confessed “Armchair privacy expert”:
This feels like a new vector to fingerprint users with. Google doesn’t have a great track record with any of the stuff that has overlapped with their ability to sell ads, so I don’t think anyone should give them trust here.
But are we overreacting? Tron thinks so:
Worry less. Targeted advertising has never been much kop. The simple stuff (other people who bought this also bought these) works well enough, but … I endlessly get offered things that I have bought (and don’t need again) or similar products that I didn’t buy for a reason.
…
99.9% of the time, it is entirely useless. … Ad targeting, outside dictatorships, is benign. Take the tin foil hats off, folks. ‘Nothing’ is a small price to pay for useful tech. We are getting the best deal of all here.
Meanwhile, why worry? Paul Graham combines thuswise: [You’re fired—Ed.]
If you go to chrome://settings/adPrivacy you can turn off the spyware that got inserted into the latest version of Chrome.
And Finally:
Trigger warnings: Jam-related injury, Mike’s unusual fingers, ASMR “It smells really good.”
You have been reading SB Blogwatch by Richi Jennings. Richi curates the best bloggy bits, finest forums, and weirdest websites … so you don’t have to. Hate mail may be directed to @RiCHi, @richij or [email protected]. Ask your doctor before reading. Your mileage may vary. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Do not stare into laser with remaining eye. E&OE. 30.
Image sauce: Sascha Bosshard (via Unsplash; leveled and cropped)
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Original Post URL: https://securityboulevard.com/2023/09/google-privacy-sandbox-richixbw/
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