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Private search browser Cliqz buys Ghostery ad-tracker tool

67 points by bjoern_cliqz 10y ago

JadeNB 10y ago
Probably anyone who's interested will know, but I think that it's worth noting that Ghostery (https://www.ghostery.com https://www.ghostery.com) is not tracking software; it is anti-tracking software, meant to track ads' tracking behaviour. (Thus this purchase is, presumably, a good thing.) I think that calling it an "ad-tracker tool" risks misleading the casual reader.
- geoffmcc 10y ago
  Yes. As someone who was not familiar with Ghostery ad-tracker tool I thought I was about to read an article about how a private search is not really a private search. Edit: Private search browser Cliqz buys Ghostery’s anti-tracking tools.
- siegecraft 10y ago
  The thing always got mentioned whenever Ghostery is brought up is that they were owned by an advertising company that sold user data. I wonder how Cliqz plans to make this a profitable venture (besides being another Mozilla charity case)?
  - JadeNB 10y ago
    > I wonder how Cliqz plans to make this a profitable venture (besides being another Mozilla charity case)? Whether or not it's a convincing case, the article does address that: > Cliqz has previously discussed its plans to monetize this pro-privacy approach and usage of its free, anti-tracking browser and search products via a companion Cliqz Offers app — that will be designed to broadcast all offers to all users so Cliqz does not need to track individuals’ browsing habits to power ad targeting. Rather tracking of browsing habits occurs locally, on a user’s device, allowing for the tech to display pertinent offers to users without Cliqz itself needing to be party to its users’ browsing behavior.
- j_s 10y ago
  Rather than anti-tracking software, I believe even by your definition (meant to track ads' tracking behaviour) it would be considered tracker-tracking software. I believe part of what they do is verify advertisers are getting their money's worth on their ads.
  - JadeNB 10y ago
    > Rather than anti-tracking software, I believe even by your definition (meant to track ads' tracking behaviour) it would be considered tracker-tracking software. Fair enough; I didn't mean to claim that the headline was objectively wrong, just that it risked being misleading. I am fine with software tracking lots of stuff online, as long as it doesn't expose my private data to someone else. (Whether Ghostery meets my personal bar I can't say; I found its UI on Firefox unpleasant, and switched to Privacy Badger.)
bjoern_cliqz 10y ago
There are official posts on the blogs of Cliqz and Ghostery as well: https://www.ghostery.com/blog/ghostery-news/ghostery-acquired-cliqz/ https://www.ghostery.com/blog/ghostery-news/ghostery-acquire... https://cliqz.com/en/magazine/cliqz-und-ghostery https://cliqz.com/en/magazine/cliqz-und-ghostery
guaka 10y ago
I moved over to Privacy Badger a while ago. It's an EFF project unlikely to ever be bought by a for profit company. https://www.eff.org/privacybadger https://www.eff.org/privacybadger
- pan69 10y ago
  It seems that both Ghostery and Privacy Badger are asking for the "Read and change all your data on the websites that you visit" permission. But Privacy Badger also asks for the "Change your privacy-related settings" permission. I kinda trust the EFF but I'm not sure what the implications of that are.
- ecliptik 10y ago
  I like Privacy Badger and trust the EFF, unfortunately it's not available on Safari and Ghostery is the next-best choice.
bjoern_cliqz 10y ago
You can check the code of Cliqz's products by yourself. It's all on Github: https://github.com/cliqz-oss https://github.com/cliqz-oss

67 points by bjoern_cliqz 10y ago

Probably anyone who's interested will know, but I think that it's worth noting that Ghostery (https://www.ghostery.com https://www.ghostery.com) is not tracking software; it is anti-tracking software, meant to track ads' tracking behaviour. (Thus this purchase is, presumably, a good thing.) I think that calling it an "ad-tracker tool" risks misleading the casual reader.

geoffmcc 10y ago
Yes. As someone who was not familiar with Ghostery ad-tracker tool I thought I was about to read an article about how a private search is not really a private search. Edit: Private search browser Cliqz buys Ghostery’s anti-tracking tools.
siegecraft 10y ago
The thing always got mentioned whenever Ghostery is brought up is that they were owned by an advertising company that sold user data. I wonder how Cliqz plans to make this a profitable venture (besides being another Mozilla charity case)?
- JadeNB 10y ago
  > I wonder how Cliqz plans to make this a profitable venture (besides being another Mozilla charity case)? Whether or not it's a convincing case, the article does address that: > Cliqz has previously discussed its plans to monetize this pro-privacy approach and usage of its free, anti-tracking browser and search products via a companion Cliqz Offers app — that will be designed to broadcast all offers to all users so Cliqz does not need to track individuals’ browsing habits to power ad targeting. Rather tracking of browsing habits occurs locally, on a user’s device, allowing for the tech to display pertinent offers to users without Cliqz itself needing to be party to its users’ browsing behavior.
j_s 10y ago
Rather than anti-tracking software, I believe even by your definition (meant to track ads' tracking behaviour) it would be considered tracker-tracking software. I believe part of what they do is verify advertisers are getting their money's worth on their ads.
- JadeNB 10y ago
  > Rather than anti-tracking software, I believe even by your definition (meant to track ads' tracking behaviour) it would be considered tracker-tracking software. Fair enough; I didn't mean to claim that the headline was objectively wrong, just that it risked being misleading. I am fine with software tracking lots of stuff online, as long as it doesn't expose my private data to someone else. (Whether Ghostery meets my personal bar I can't say; I found its UI on Firefox unpleasant, and switched to Privacy Badger.)

bjoern_cliqz 10y ago

There are official posts on the blogs of Cliqz and Ghostery as well: https://www.ghostery.com/blog/ghostery-news/ghostery-acquired-cliqz/ https://www.ghostery.com/blog/ghostery-news/ghostery-acquire... https://cliqz.com/en/magazine/cliqz-und-ghostery https://cliqz.com/en/magazine/cliqz-und-ghostery

guaka 10y ago

I moved over to Privacy Badger a while ago. It's an EFF project unlikely to ever be bought by a for profit company. https://www.eff.org/privacybadger https://www.eff.org/privacybadger

pan69 10y ago
It seems that both Ghostery and Privacy Badger are asking for the "Read and change all your data on the websites that you visit" permission. But Privacy Badger also asks for the "Change your privacy-related settings" permission. I kinda trust the EFF but I'm not sure what the implications of that are.
ecliptik 10y ago
I like Privacy Badger and trust the EFF, unfortunately it's not available on Safari and Ghostery is the next-best choice.

bjoern_cliqz 10y ago

You can check the code of Cliqz's products by yourself. It's all on Github: https://github.com/cliqz-oss https://github.com/cliqz-oss