

Ghostery Also Helps the Ad Industry - JumpCrisscross
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/516156/a-popular-ad-blocker-also-helps-the-ad-industry/

======
ignostic
> _" Meyer also says that Ghostery users are presented with clear disclosures
> about how the company uses their data if they opt in."_

Really? Here's the text you see by default:

> _" Help support Ghostery by sending anonymous statistical data back to
> Ghostery HQ.

> When you enable Ghostrank™, Ghostery collects anonymous data about the
> trackers you've encountered and the sites on which they were placed. This
> data is about tracking elements and the webpages on which they are found,
> not you or your browsing habits. >...See more"_

From this explanation it's unclear what Ghostery is doing. It makes it sound
like there's no data being collected from you, only from the sites. Even the
"see more" text only hints at the data's use, and you have to click through
from that to get the full story. The FAQ is very carefully worded in terms of
what they do/don't say and how it's phrased to sound as non-threatening as
possible, and you have to read between the lines:

[https://www.ghostery.com/en/faq](https://www.ghostery.com/en/faq)

It seems to me that Evidon is intentionally obscuring their use of the data,
and users who opt in probably don't know what their data is being used for.

~~~
bryans
I think you're making this out to be something it's not. I don't see how
Evidon is under any obligation to explain exactly what analyses they perform
on the data or what the companies they sell it to do with it. They would be
divulging their own trade secrets if they did, which is ludicrous to demand of
them.

In fact, they're more forthcoming about what they collect than the vast
majority of companies who sell data. They list every piece of information
collected right in the FAQ, and they discuss it in depth in a blog post linked
to from the FAQ.

[https://purplebox.ghostery.com/post/1016023438](https://purplebox.ghostery.com/post/1016023438)

The reality is that Ghostrank is opt-in functionality. If you don't like it or
are confused by the verbiage, then don't turn it on. If you're still paranoid,
don't use Ghostery at all. But don't pretend that they're being unclear,
disingenuous, or nefarious just because you had to click your mouse button
twice to find the information.

~~~
crpatino
>I don't see how Evidon is under any obligation to explain exactly what
analyses they perform on the data or what the companies they sell it to do
with it.

Given that Ghostery provides a service that blocks companies tracking data, it
has every obligation to explain why it's Ghostrank program is any different
from the very thing you are expecting them to protect you from.

Otherwise, it is like a sugar substitute that makes you fat anyways.
Theoretically there is a legitimate use case (insulin dependent patients) but
for their average customer (people who want to loose weight) it is borderline
fraud.

~~~
fixanoid
Its explained in many places, such as our website, our FAQ, our support board,
all the store listings, and finally in the extension itself.

Ghostrank is not a tracking service of the user, its a way to measure the
ecosystem of trackers in the webbernets.

------
valarauca1
>“This is not a scheme,” says Scott Meyer, Evidon’s cofounder and CEO and
formerly a senior figure in the New York Times Company’s online operations,
when asked about that dual role. He says, "There is no conflict in offering a
tool that helps users hide from the ad industry while also helping that same
industry."

As somebody use uses adblockers to help reduce my online footprint, I find
this discomforting.

~~~
sp332
How do either of the services they provide increase your footprint?

~~~
valarauca1
When I'm attempting to create no footprint (which is impossible I know),
making any footprint period is annoying. And knowing a tool that is
implemented and advertised to prevent making said footprint is just making one
somewhere else is misleading.

~~~
fyrabanks
It's opt-in/disabled by default. What's the problem?

~~~
Touche
It exists.

------
Aoyagi
While I understand that having an ad company behind a piece of software like
this might be discomforting, I think an article like this being posted on site
with ~10 trackers/analytics/ad tools/"social" plugins is equally
discomforting. Or not one mention of "GhostRank". Plus, the option is off by
default (something that isn't 100% clear of the article either), I'd like Mr.
Simonite to have a look at all the options of information snooping present in
mobile devices or Windows 8. Just the number of them, how clear the
information is and which of them are disabled by default. Oh well...

------
Ihmahr
Disconnect is a great open source alternative to Ghostery:
[https://disconnect.me/](https://disconnect.me/)

~~~
JumpCrisscross
It also appears to lag Ghostery and Adblock in efficacy [1]. Granted,
AreWePrivateYet is "presented by Ghostery." But Ghostery does not necessarily
show up at the top of the list every month (see November 2013).
AreWePrivateYet also uses a Stanford study's methodology [2] for its open-
source model [3].

Update: Ghostery appears to outperform Disconnect even when both are put in
"block all trackers" mode [4].

[1] [http://www.areweprivateyet.com](http://www.areweprivateyet.com)

[2] [http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/blog/2011/09/tracking-
trackers-...](http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/blog/2011/09/tracking-trackers-
self-help-tools)

[3]
[https://github.com/ghostery/areweprivateyet](https://github.com/ghostery/areweprivateyet)

[4]
[https://github.com/gorhill/httpswitchboard/wiki/Comparative-...](https://github.com/gorhill/httpswitchboard/wiki/Comparative-
benchmarks-against-widely-used-blockers:-Top-15-Most-Popular-News-Websites)

~~~
byoogle
Ghostery’s results are (surprise) quite biased:
[http://www.reddit.com/r/privacy/comments/1kagfu/which_privac...](http://www.reddit.com/r/privacy/comments/1kagfu/which_privacy_extensions_are_most_effective_an/cbn6mgu)

~~~
gorhill
My results are not biased:

[https://github.com/gorhill/httpswitchboard/wiki/Comparative-...](https://github.com/gorhill/httpswitchboard/wiki/Comparative-
benchmarks-against-widely-used-blockers:-Top-15-Most-Popular-News-Websites)

Ghostery does a better job than Disconnect.

~~~
byoogle
Not true. You’re changing Ghostery’s default settings but not changing
Disconnect’s default settings.

~~~
JumpCrisscross
> _You’re changing Ghostery’s default settings but not changing Disconnect’s
> default settings._

I believe this was appropriately accounted for. "Ghostery and Disconnect were
set in their respective equivalent of 'Block all trackers' mode."

[https://github.com/gorhill/httpswitchboard/wiki/Comparative-...](https://github.com/gorhill/httpswitchboard/wiki/Comparative-
benchmarks-against-widely-used-blockers:-Methodology-and-notes)

------
zorbo
The option is off by default. Does everything have to be made into a privacy-
invading scandal piece? I expect better from the MIT technical review.

------
gorhill
Just in case you didn't notice: "June 17, 2013"

------
sogen
Alternatives: [http://prism-break.org/en/](http://prism-break.org/en/)

------
abus
It has an option to turn off anonymous statistical data. If this works then
I'm okay with it, if not, someone please let me know.

~~~
fixanoid
Well, the option is actually to turn in on. By default, Ghostery does not
collect anything.

------
buckbova
Not exactly the same but here's a more anonymous way to block unwanted sites.

[http://someonewhocares.org/hosts/](http://someonewhocares.org/hosts/)

------
thatcherclay
Evidon is an interesting company, they sort of screw with both of their
customers: * Users - the main thrust of this article, potentially misleading
tracking * Advertisers - holding them hostage via being one of the sole
providers of certification to the legislation they support (I have witnessed
instances where a company turned down their services, were reportedly
threatened by an evidon sales rep, and then were shortly thereafter reported
as not serving the ad choices banner. Not a smoking gun, but suspicious).

~~~
alexqgb
This actually seems kind of brilliant. It's using the still small but
statistically signifiant pool of people who are proactive about not being
tracked to track the trackers themselves, then selling this information to the
the people who pay the trackers.

Trackers tracking trackers to track trackers.

~~~
fixanoid
Thank you, thats exactly what we do. =)

