

Intrusive Technology Profiling Internet Users on the Verge of Comeback - cshenoy
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704243904575630751094784516.html

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extension
So, if PR is the only thing holding these guys back then surely many ISPs are
already doing this secretly, right?

Personally, I encourage everyone to fully exploit any and all data they can
get their hands on, for whatever purpose interests them. Until everything is
encrypted end-to-end, somebody will always be doing it anyway. The sooner the
general public figures that out and starts channeling their outrage into a
real solution, the better.

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joe_the_user
Wow, this is getting up votes?

 _I encourage everyone to fully exploit any and all data they can get their
hands on_

I think SAP found out where this can lead. A piece of data doesn't have to be
under lock and key for it to not belong to you. Moreover, it's not really that
hard to be caught when you start scanning "all the data you can get your hands
on" rather than all the data you have a legal right to look at.

Edit: ISP could only benefit by doing this publicly since they have to
actively sell this to ad-buyers to make money. And it would cost a bit of
money to do.

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extension
I don't encourage it because I think it's a nice thing to do. I just have zero
faith in niceness, or the general public's perception of what is nice, to keep
them secure.

If all parties were transparent about their self-interest, the nature and
scope of the problem would become much more clear to everyone. Instead, we
spend all our energy going after the occasional red herring with a curly
mustache.

Facebook looking at your referer header? Evil!

Google sniffing open wifi? Dastardly!

Gmail scraping email for adsense keywords? Insidious!

Anything that contributes to this theatre is just helping to keep the masses
ignorant.

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Torn
Lots of related discussion over on NoDPI: <https://nodpi.org/> (edit: seems
down at the moment)

I actually wrote my LLM. Cyberlaw dissertation on Phorm and the impacts of
behavioural advertising.. interesting to see they're still around after
getting wrist-slapped by the EU.

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agl
After reading the article I'm unclear about how the ads are served:

"He says his company also has been placing ads on various websites to test the
ad-placement technology and build up a base of advertisers, which now number
about 100,000."

Does this mean that they're manipulating the HTML of the site to inject ads,
or that they're purchasing spots via an ad network and somehow manipulating
those, specific, requests?

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nobody_nowhere
No need -- they can target individual users already via realtime ad exchanges,
like Google AdX. If they're inspecting packets, they can match users to the
exchanges' cookies and bid on them.

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epochwolf
Looks like I'll have to start using my vpn at home too.

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danielamitay
If we are going to live with ads, they might as well be properly targeted.

My only complaint is that most of the general public doesn't understand what
they are opting in for, and those that try to understand it mistake it for
something much more nefarious than it actually is.

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earl
Much more nefarious? Full browsing history, full access to email for many
people, all unencrypted IM conversations, and your full search history unless
your using https at google or duckduckgo? I can't imagine why people might be
upset.

~~~
danielamitay
Quote: "Both also say they don't collect any personal information, read email,
store users' browsing histories or monitor sensitive sites such as health
blogs. "

And seriously? Google knows your search history ever since they started up,
and use it for their own ads. You have something against your ISP knowing this
information, but not Google?

