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The part that surprises me is the unique identifier for the ad recipient (MAID) being reported to the advertiser. What is the legitimate business purpose of thi
by bagacrap 9y ago
The part that surprises me is the unique identifier for the ad recipient (MAID) being reported to the advertiser. What is the legitimate business purpose of this and is it really a common feature of all ad platforms?
- abalone 9y agoThis is addressed in detail in the article. > the researchers suggest a variety of ways to obtain that MAID, including placing an "active-content" ad that uses javascript to pull the MAID from a phone at a certain location... MAIDs can also be intercepted by someone on the same Wi-Fi network as the target phone. > "It’s not a particularly high bar to entry for a very, very highly targeted attack," says Adam Lee... A domestic abuser could, for instance, obtain a spouse's MAID... or a co-worker could do the same in the office... Or an ad buyer could use active-content ads to gather the MAIDs of the people at a specific location, like a protest, or users of a potentially sensitive app like gay-dating apps or religious apps...
- dx034 9y agoYou talk about illegitimate purposes, not legitimate. I guess they're intended to show ads multiple time for a user. Ads often only work if you've seen them often enough. A coke ad once will not change your behaviour but seeing it three times a day over a week could.