An update on Mozilla’s PPA experiment and how it protects user privacy while testing cutting edge technologies to improve the open web.
I will say it again: The way i read it, it sounds like the companies will get some general data if their ads work, without a profile about you being created. I am fine with that.
Just imagine what a boon it would be for the “normal“ less tech savvy, if advertisers switched to a more privacy respecting technology like this.
If more privacy focused people don’t like it, they can simply disable it by ticking one box, without negative consequences (unlike content blockers and similar techniques where a website can penalize you, turned off PPA is not detectable).
It has no downsides as far as I am concerned. It doesn’t give advertisers additional data that they wouldn’t already be able to get, it just creates the option of measuring their ads in a privacy respecting way.
Companies get extra data through Firefox, which now acts on behalf of the ad corporations.
But advertisers have better options, both for reach, or for privacy. They can simply do A/B testing on their own, without involving a third party…
Method: PPA Topics Using different links Corporate creator Facebook Google - Needs users to trust 3rd party? Yes (Mozilla) Yes (Google) No ~% browsers it works on <3% >60% 100% Guaranteed privacy increase? No No No* *If you trust the advertiser, they can do it on their own. If you don’t trust the advertiser, then the additional third party does nothing.
Companies get extra data through Firefox
You mean extra data compared to them using any other advertising model, like google advertising? Do you have a source for that?
Because that is what PPA has to be compared to, and not to no ad measurement at all. It‘s meant to be replacing other advertising measurement techniques.
The comparison chart looks like it‘s copied from somewhere, would you mind sharing? I wouldn‘t mind a deeper dive into the topic.
In particular, these claims never get accompanied by examples of what extra data these companies get through PPA. Presumably, because there is none.
You know what they say about people who assume, especially when it’s about a company that had to sneak their changes into the browser in a way that would make even Google executives blush.
…except when you assume that data gets leaked despite literally nobody having been able to point to anything that indicates that it’s happening?
It is Mozilla’s job to show us what data is shared. Mozilla failed on that front.
If you want to be the Mozilla evangelist, then show us all on Mozilla’s behalf exactly what data gets sent over, so that we can replicate it.
Here:
When a user interacts with an ad or advertiser, an event is logged in the browser in the form of a value. That value is then split into partial, indecipherable pieces and then encrypted. Each piece is addressed to a different entity — one to Divvi Up at ISRG and one to Mozilla — so that no single entity is ever in possession of both pieces. (…) As an additional protection, the pieces are submitted to Divvi Up and Mozilla using an Oblivious HTTP relay operated by a third organisation (Fastly). This ensures that Divvi Up and Mozilla do not even learn the IP address of the indecipherable piece they receive.
That is correct: why would any corporation choose to sideline their current advertisement model by creating an extra solution that doesn’t even tap 3% of the market, while abandoning the data collection they already have?
If you trust the advertisement company to provide private ads, they can do it without the browser working on their behalf.
And if you don’t trust the advertisement company, there’s nothing the browser can do to make their ads list privacy invasive… Besides blocking it.
The source to the table is me, but I can provide the article that inspired it.
why would any corporation choose to sideline their current advertisement model by creating an extra solution that doesn’t even tap 3% of the market
In it current form, I concur you might be correct. But:
The current implementation of PPA in Firefox is a prototype, designed to validate the concept and inform ongoing standards work at the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).Source
So the point is to create a system that other browsers could adopt. The other thing that could drive this, is the GDPR compliance. PPA is compliant, while a lot of the other technologies aren’t, and businesses are feeling more pressure. There is a reason that Meta participated in parts of the development.
All I can say is: Dont let perfect be the enemy of good. This is so far only a test.
Maybe this should have been the initial announcement before they pushed it onto users. Though obviously some of the backlash is due to inept media going (as usual) for clickbait instead of research and actual reporting.
Here’s the complete list of ads I find acceptable:
That is for any and all media.
Genuine question, would you be willing to pay for all the content you consume using a “token” system where each page, video or other piece of media has a price to it, usually about a cent per article or 5c per video, is automatically debited from either an account loaded with real money or some sort of blockchain, at the discretion of the user? A token could be one cent.
There’d be an open API, and multiple brokers could handle that transaction for you, so there is no vendor lock-in. You could even be your own broker if you set up your own server that talks to the servers hosting any media you’d like to consume. It would get rid of online advertising, but you have to pay out of pocket for server costs and content creation costs.
Yes.
There used to be a service where you set an amount you paid each month and you could then mark pages/services for donation. At the end of the month your money would be split between all the pages/services you marked.
It was called flattr.
The elegance of this system is that you can set aside an amount of money you’re comfortable spending on art, or whatever you wanna categorise it as. So you’re fully in control of your spending. It videos/songs/articles/things cost a flat amount it’s easy to lose track of the total.
And website operators will be compelled to adopt this, how? They will likely just use PPA and also all of the tracking tools, or straight up not give a shit about PPA. Mozilla does not have the influence to affect real change. Until such a time, all of this is just worthless posturing.
Mozilla by itself doesn’t have the influence to change it, but with Mozilla’s help (i.e. this experiment), others do. Specifically, legislators can have more freedom to implement strict privacy-protecting measures if they have proof that an alternative is available that doesn’t cost lots of voters their jobs.
But you can’t provide that proof if you don’t run the experiment.
