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Google Chrome pushes browser history-based ad targeting • The Register (www.theregister.com)
submitted 3 years ago by to c/technology@lemmy.ml
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Topics essentially works like this: rather than using cookies to track people around the web and figure out their interests from the sites they visit and the apps they use, websites can ask Chrome directly, via its Topics JavaScript API, what sort of things the user is interested in, and then display ads based on that. Chrome picks these topics of interest from studying the user's browser history.

Isn't this completely immoral? They are literally stealing the users private browsing history and uses it to boost their own profits.

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[–] 47 points 3 years ago*

So this is why they want that browser integrity stuff.
Without the integrity a change like this would be absolutely wonderful - my ad interests would be "FuckOff" and "Nothing".

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    [–] 36 points 3 years ago (10 children)

    Very apt username.

    Anything would be an improvement over using stock Chrome at this poing... wow

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    • [–] 24 points 3 years ago (21 children)

    So what has to happen for the general population to move away from chrome/chromium?

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  • [–] 9 points 3 years ago* (last edited 3 years ago) (2 children)

    Vivaldi had stripped out this crap, it's good that Chromium is FOSS, anybody can gut it to their like. Apart the Vivaldi History Page is way different from al other Chromium (Calendar view customizable in several formats, stadistics with graphs, not a simple list) since its first versions..

    Vivaldi doesn’t collect your history data. All of this information is strictly private and local to your computer. What you get to see is the kind of data that could be tracked by third parties. Instead of trying to monetize it, we are giving you this data – for your eyes only. With the ability to analyze this information, you can decide if you want to adjust your online behavior or remove certain items from the list.

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  • [–] 6 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    ...and when browser integrity becomes a thing?

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  • [–] 7 points 3 years ago

    Wich browser integrity? Because of Chromium? Google already tried this years ago to try to control Chromiums with infinite APIs added to the Chromium code, even with discriminatory browsersniffings, which practically all other Chromium Browsers eliminated just as quickly, Vivaldi the first. Windows on Edge anyway (naturally putting its own Spy APIs in place of these). No trackings or logging by Google in Vivaldi (as long as you do not naturally use Google as a search engine). This is why Google is now trying to gain control through its web services and pages that use them with this WEI DRM, which forces all browsers, no matter what engine, be it Chromium, Firefox Gecko or Safari WebKit, to include a "security" Google Token in your script to access these pages or services. This is naturally a huge bummer if not avoided, since then it depends only on Google which browser deserves this Token, which could be the end of all minority browsers, leaving in the end only Chrome itself with full internet access. THAT is the problem, not the browser integrity.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (3 children)

    [This comment has been deleted by an automated system]

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    [–] 18 points 3 years ago* (last edited 3 years ago) (2 children)

    What is it with Americans naming things the exact opposite of what the thing does

    Does not foes

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  • [–] 18 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    Here are some more candidates:

    1. FREEDOM: Full Range Enhanced Experience Derived Online Marketing.
    2. LIBERTY: Leveraging Internet Browsing & Experience Records To Yield profits.
    3. JUSTICE: Join Users' Surfing Trends for Intelligent Commercial Engagement.
    4. PRIDE: Personalized Recommendations from Internet Data & Exploration.
    5. HONOR: History-Oriented Network for Optimal Recommendations.
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  • [–] 9 points 3 years ago*

    These are fun:

    1. TRUST: Telemarketing Reliability Using Safety Technology (abuse of safety systems)
    2. HOPE: Helpful Online Personalization Engine (literally just adware)
    3. TRUST: Tracking Retail Usage Systems Technology (amazon spying)
    4. LIBRE: Liberating Inconvienenced Beings of Repour Emails (gmail reading emails from your friends)
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    • [–] 5 points 3 years ago

    If you needed a nudge to ditch Chrome and its derivatives in favour of Firefox or Safari, this is it.

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    [+] 1 point 3 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (2 children)
    [deleted]
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  • [–] [S] 11 points 3 years ago* (1 child)

    This is incorrect. A user who uses chrome but uses another search engine and blocks cookies and tracking scripts is not providing Google with information about what they are doing online.

    With the topics api, Google reads your actual browsing history which is incredibly private information that they have no right to look at whatsoever.

    I don't know what world you are living in when you think Google wants to desperately stop third common cookies and other means of tracking - Google is an ad company!

    The internet not wanting to pay for Google services sounds like a Google problem, not a problem for the users. Google doesn't have some universal right to exist and be preditory to it's users.

    If they can't sell their services, they should get off the internet instead of surviving by invading their users privacy and offering "free" services. Fuck Google.

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    • [–] 1 point 3 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

    the google is evil

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    [–] 1 point 3 years ago

    I just figured this was always happening.

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