4 ms·

I wonder if the top brass at alphabet ever worry that their trillion dollar empire is based on fragile foundations like web audio fingerprinting, etc. that sur

I wonder if the top brass at alphabet ever worry that their trillion dollar empire is based on fragile foundations like web audio fingerprinting, etc. that sure would keep me up at night. obviously, i know google does more, but it seems like a large chunk of their revenue must be dependent on shady technical tricks like these working.

colinbartlett 7y ago
They realized it was a risk so they built their own browser to have more control. And it worked. Only now, users are wising up and moving to Firefox.
- gdw2 7y ago
  Is firefox less fingerprintable?
  - jes 7y ago
    I'm not an expert, but I'm running Firefox Nightly for exactly that reason. https://blog.mozilla.org/futurereleases/2019/04/09/protections-against-fingerprinting-and-cryptocurrency-mining-available-in-firefox-nightly-and-beta/ https://blog.mozilla.org/futurereleases/2019/04/09/protectio...
    - lloydde 7y ago
      It looks like the related feature is now in the regular release.
    - butteroverflow 7y ago
      What's your user agent like? I would imagine there are not many Nightly users out there.
      - a012 7y ago
        Still there are a lot of information in your user-agent and metadata (OS version, platform, screen size, timezone, and more).
  - lloydde 7y ago
    Firefox has been putting a lot of attention to this area. https://blog.mozilla.org/firefox/how-to-block-fingerprinting-with-firefox/ https://blog.mozilla.org/firefox/how-to-block-fingerprinting...
  - iokanuon 7y ago
    Seems to be, according to the creators of nothingprivate.ml: [1] [1]: https://github.com/gautamkrishnar/nothing-private/blob/master/Secure-Browsers.md https://github.com/gautamkrishnar/nothing-private/blob/maste...
  - tick_tock_tick 7y ago
    Not at all. In many ways since firefox has such a smaller market share you are significantly easier to identify than average.
    - outworlder 7y ago
      This makes little sense. If the data collection capabilities are more restricted, how would one be easier to identify? Firefox has a significant market share still.
      - graysonk 7y ago
        The absence of a data point is still an identifiable data point
      - fooker 7y ago
        Want to advertise a product aimed at digital privacy concerned people? Just push it at those you can not fingerprint..
  - X6S1x6Okd1st 7y ago
    firefox's charter allows for taking action against the interest of google. Chrome doesn't.
- H8crilA 7y ago
  No meaningful fraction of users is moving to Firefox [1] [2]. I wish this was the case, but it sure is not. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_web_browsers#/media/File%3AUsage_Share_of_browsers_(updated_August_2018).png https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_web_browsers#... [2] https://netmarketshare.com/browser-market-share.aspx https://netmarketshare.com/browser-market-share.aspx
  - aembleton 7y ago
    If Firefox is blocking trackers by default, how will you know if more are using it now?
la_barba 7y ago
They don't have to worry because they control the browser too, and so those tricks will continue to work for the foreseeable future.
- wang_li 7y ago
  Which is why one of several things should happen. The first option is that there be legal requirements to adhere to public standards if you are a content distributor. And that any standards compliant client side software be allowed to use the service. In some areas we're in a world where your telephone carrier sells you your telephone, e.g. twitter, apple's imessage, etc. Other options would be that if you are a content distribution company, e.g. youtube, google, facebook, twitter, instagram, etc. then you cannot have any control of the client side applications that consume the content. Trustbusting would come into play here. Or legal obligations to follow a user's desire not to be tracked with real criminal fines and jail time applied to executives, managers, and developers who failed to follow the law.
  - JetSpiegel 7y ago
    What kind of legal requirement can thwart a multinational corporation? The UN cannot enforce any laws, the only supra-national entity with this power is the EU (see GDPR). It's easier to just use Firefox with uBlock Origin, Cookie AutoDelete, etc etc.
    - wang_li 7y ago
      The kind in which FBI agents show up at the homes of executives, board members, and senior management at 5:00am in the morning with guns and warrants.
    - brokenmachine 7y ago
      Individual legal requirements in each jurisdiction.
frogpelt 7y ago
They have a pretty big moat around their business. If you want to buy advertising online you're probably gonna end up dealing with them either directly or indirectly.
xhgdvjky 7y ago
the internet is already a shady hack that only usually works

colinbartlett 7y ago

They realized it was a risk so they built their own browser to have more control. And it worked. Only now, users are wising up and moving to Firefox.

gdw2 7y ago
Is firefox less fingerprintable?
- jes 7y ago
  I'm not an expert, but I'm running Firefox Nightly for exactly that reason. https://blog.mozilla.org/futurereleases/2019/04/09/protections-against-fingerprinting-and-cryptocurrency-mining-available-in-firefox-nightly-and-beta/ https://blog.mozilla.org/futurereleases/2019/04/09/protectio...
  - lloydde 7y ago
    It looks like the related feature is now in the regular release.
  - butteroverflow 7y ago
    What's your user agent like? I would imagine there are not many Nightly users out there.
    - a012 7y ago
      Still there are a lot of information in your user-agent and metadata (OS version, platform, screen size, timezone, and more).
- lloydde 7y ago
  Firefox has been putting a lot of attention to this area. https://blog.mozilla.org/firefox/how-to-block-fingerprinting-with-firefox/ https://blog.mozilla.org/firefox/how-to-block-fingerprinting...
- iokanuon 7y ago
  Seems to be, according to the creators of nothingprivate.ml: [1] [1]: https://github.com/gautamkrishnar/nothing-private/blob/master/Secure-Browsers.md https://github.com/gautamkrishnar/nothing-private/blob/maste...
- tick_tock_tick 7y ago
  Not at all. In many ways since firefox has such a smaller market share you are significantly easier to identify than average.
  - outworlder 7y ago
    This makes little sense. If the data collection capabilities are more restricted, how would one be easier to identify? Firefox has a significant market share still.
    - graysonk 7y ago
      The absence of a data point is still an identifiable data point
    - fooker 7y ago
      Want to advertise a product aimed at digital privacy concerned people? Just push it at those you can not fingerprint..
- X6S1x6Okd1st 7y ago
  firefox's charter allows for taking action against the interest of google. Chrome doesn't.
H8crilA 7y ago
No meaningful fraction of users is moving to Firefox [1] [2]. I wish this was the case, but it sure is not. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_web_browsers#/media/File%3AUsage_Share_of_browsers_(updated_August_2018).png https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_web_browsers#... [2] https://netmarketshare.com/browser-market-share.aspx https://netmarketshare.com/browser-market-share.aspx
- aembleton 7y ago
  If Firefox is blocking trackers by default, how will you know if more are using it now?

la_barba 7y ago

They don't have to worry because they control the browser too, and so those tricks will continue to work for the foreseeable future.

wang_li 7y ago
Which is why one of several things should happen. The first option is that there be legal requirements to adhere to public standards if you are a content distributor. And that any standards compliant client side software be allowed to use the service. In some areas we're in a world where your telephone carrier sells you your telephone, e.g. twitter, apple's imessage, etc. Other options would be that if you are a content distribution company, e.g. youtube, google, facebook, twitter, instagram, etc. then you cannot have any control of the client side applications that consume the content. Trustbusting would come into play here. Or legal obligations to follow a user's desire not to be tracked with real criminal fines and jail time applied to executives, managers, and developers who failed to follow the law.
- JetSpiegel 7y ago
  What kind of legal requirement can thwart a multinational corporation? The UN cannot enforce any laws, the only supra-national entity with this power is the EU (see GDPR). It's easier to just use Firefox with uBlock Origin, Cookie AutoDelete, etc etc.
  - wang_li 7y ago
    The kind in which FBI agents show up at the homes of executives, board members, and senior management at 5:00am in the morning with guns and warrants.
  - brokenmachine 7y ago
    Individual legal requirements in each jurisdiction.

frogpelt 7y ago

They have a pretty big moat around their business. If you want to buy advertising online you're probably gonna end up dealing with them either directly or indirectly.

xhgdvjky 7y ago

the internet is already a shady hack that only usually works