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Google Chrome now targets ads based on your browser history, here's how to turn that off
(www.techspot.com)
this post was submitted on 07 Sep 2023
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Ok. Imma get lambasted for this, but here goes.
I have no problem seeing ads. I respect that if I'm getting a commercial product or service for 'free', then I'm paying another way.
If I have to see ads, why not see ads that might be relevant to my interests? I mean, I'd rather see an ad for a video game than a bank.
I don't see what all the FUD is about. What the fuck are y'all surfing that you're so protective of?
Targeted advertisements can be harmful, by directing (for example) gambling ads at people who show to be prone to addiction through the websites they visit.
Ads are fine, in some way, but I do not want random companies I've never heard of to know all of my details. Details which may become hacked.
Just because "I've got nothing to hide" doesn't mean I should be happy when everyone knows all about me.
For this feature though they've tried to select the topics to be ones that "[do] not include sensitive categories (i.e. race, sexual orientation, religion, etc.)". The list is also public and gambling is not on it:
https://github.com/patcg-individual-drafts/topics/blob/main/taxonomy_v2.md
While this won't satisfy those who want no individualized ads or no ads at all, it would be an improvement over what we have now and put control over what topics are used (or even if it's enabled at all) in the local browser instead of some server online.
the good old I have nothing to hide
The machanical extraction of highly personal data (did you have sex last night?) to build faux diary entries on people (this person lives alone) so others can easly pair their tailored attacks on the psyche to those who are vunrable. Were all vulnerable, just in diffrent places. Just gotta figure yours out.
I wish these systems were built to help match people with helpful products, but the non concent bugs me intensely.
I'd be concerned about the fact that you could live in a country where a law change could occur where suddenly the govt tells Google to keyword search people's internet history on certain topics so they can start investigating and potentially prosecuting people.
You might not have anything to hide now but what you do that's legal now might become illegal later, the US is a perfect example of that with all kinds of backwards BS happening there, abortion being a big example.
Isn't this client-side solution for analyzing the history and coming up with ad topics for sites better in your scenario than the server-side solutions currently in use though? A government would have a much harder time trying to get access to the data when it's on each individual's device, rather than a profile created through an online ad service.