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Only during the transition, when all is said and done there are no other identifiers of merit, and since this one can change pretty frequently it doesn't really

Only during the transition, when all is said and done there are no other identifiers of merit, and since this one can change pretty frequently it doesn't really identify much. One day I receive a request that says you are group 12345, in 1 hour you are 12346 instead because the algorithm recalculated your FLoC... Not sure what anyone can tell about that without knowing the group ids meanings, which likely not even google will know since this is going to be a clustering algorithm anyway.

leereeves 6y ago
> Only during the transition, when all is said and done there are no other identifiers of merit, and since this one can change pretty frequently it doesn't really identify much. As long as browser fingerprinting exists it will be possible to track the FLoC cohorts a person belongs to over time and learn much more about them than a single FLoC cohort reveals. But AFAIK, FLoC is only replacing third-party cookies; browser fingerprinting will still be possible.
- UncleMeat 6y ago
  > But AFAIK, FLoC is only replacing third-party cookies; browser fingerprinting will still be possible. Effective fingerprinting makes everything impossible. Even if there were no 3rd party cookies and no FLoC, ad-tech can still use fingerprinting to bucket you based on your browsing history. This isn't a criticism of FLoC, this is a criticism of unwanted fingerprinting.
  - leereeves 6y ago
    Fingerprinting only tracks your visits to the sites using that particular ad vendor, and FLoC adds additional info based on your visits to other sites. Sites that know who you are (e.g. because you log in) gain even more info, if they previously only knew about your visits to that site.