An update on Mozilla’s PPA experiment and how it protects user privacy while testing cutting edge technologies to improve the open web.
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…
*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.
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:
A “value”!
How very specific!
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.
The mere fact this technology exists gives legislators a tool in their toolbox. I could imagine a future where the EU mandates use of PPA in certain circumstances.
Or more importantly, forbids the use of privacy-invasive methods of measuring ad performance.
In its current form, I concur, you might be correct. But:
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.
Do you want to see Mozilla and Firefox die a hero, or do you want to see it live long enough to become the villain?
With the US ruling of Google being a monopoly, Mozilla is bound to lose a lot of their income if that’s the decision that comes to pass. I’m happy with the courts ruling Google as a monopoly (because they are), but it does mean Mozilla needs to try to make money some other way.