this post was submitted on 07 Sep 2023
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Privacy
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Google's new ad system is called Topics. If you want to understand how it works, I would like to point you to Security Now Ep 935 in which Steve Gibson gives a pretty thorough analysis.
Marcus' take in the image is overly simplistic and a bit FUD. The intention is for Topics to replace current ad tracking systems such as tracking pixels and other metrics. In conjunction with implementing Topics, Google is removing third-party cookies from Chrome, which will eliminate most of the current invasive tracking tools.
I'm not really a Google fanboy and I'll probably just stick with Firefox personally, but everything about Topics sounds less privacy invasive than the way things are done now. If Google can force this change on the internet advertising market it will actually be an improvement for user privacy.
It's not overly simplistic. It's simply not a privacy feature if the core functionality is sharing your data. Privacy is if they stopped sharing data. Sharing more data is antithetical to privacy.
The transparency of Topics is at least an improvement. Previously you would be targeted - or rather discriminated - by highly questionable traits.
Hopefully with this move regulators will finally step in to outlaw the previous behaviour. That would be a minimal step in the right direction.
I doubt it. And I see no reason to believe Google is not going to continue that behavior, especially for those using a different browser.