4 ms·
FLoC exists to group users down into behavioral targeting categories, it should be obvious that some of those will end up corresponding to gender or race or oth
by kevingadd 6y ago
FLoC exists to group users down into behavioral targeting categories, it should be obvious that some of those will end up corresponding to gender or race or other traits that are protected statuses. We've repeatedly had incidents where big companies were caught accidentally letting (for example) landlords filter advertisements by race or recruiters filter listings by age, both of which are illegal.
- dstaley 6y agoYup, from the linked EFF article: > Observers may learn that in general, members of a specific cohort are substantially likely to be a specific type of person. For example, a particular cohort may over-represent users who are young, female, and Black; another cohort, middle-aged Republican voters; a third, LGBTQ+ youth. This means every site you visit will have a good idea about what kind of person you are on first contact, without having to do the work of tracking you across the web.
- Closi 6y agoTo further back up the post - we have previously seen targeted advertisement used specifically to disenfranchise black voters, so there is definitely precedent.
- amarant 6y agoFLoC is replacing cookies, that were already used in pretty much the exact same manner. I can't say I think FLoC is a win for consumers, but how it will promote racism any more than cookies is beyond me. I could be wrong of course, if so, please explain how.
- Spivak 6y agoBecause cohorts are stronger than cookies for sites that aren’t tracking you across the web and correlating that data.
- dqpb 6y agoDoes race determine behavior?