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* Brave ads are optin * Machine learning for ads is done locally; can't be evil * Trackers and third party ads are blocked. When is FireFox going to block th

* Brave ads are optin * Machine learning for ads is done locally; can't be evil * Trackers and third party ads are blocked. When is FireFox going to block third party ads and trackers?

woodruffw 5y ago
My understanding is that Firefox has supported in-browser blocking of third-party ads, trackers, fingerprinters, &c., for a while now[1]. > * Machine learning for ads is done locally; can't be evil There are too many moving pieces to this to dissect in a single comment. But to roughly sum them up: just about every adtech company that promises "privacy preserving targeted advertising" via ML uses some information-theoretical definition of privacy that doesn't align with normal user's intuitions about the word "private." We saw this with k-anonymity schemes, and we'll see it again when these schemes attract more scrutiny. And on top of that: Brave's own site implies that local ad ML is currently opt-in only[2]. [1]: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/enhanced-tracking-protection-firefox-desktop https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/enhanced-tracking-prote... [2]: https://brave.com/intro-to-brave-ads/ https://brave.com/intro-to-brave-ads/
- waffle_maniac 5y ago
  > My understanding is that Firefox has supported in-browser blocking of third-party ads, trackers, fingerprinters, &c., for a while now I see the part about trackers. What about ads? Does it also block YouTube ads? That's a really nice feature built into Brave. > just about every adtech company that promises "privacy preserving targeted advertising" via ML The difference here is it happens in the browser. Does ML happen in Chrome? > Brave's own site implies that local ad ML is currently opt-in only Your reading of that isn't correct. The opt in is for ads. And local machine learning comes along with opting in.
  - throwaway946513 5y ago
    > I see the part about trackers, what about ads? Doe sit also block YouTube ads? Ads are the way the internet can be funded. For most free sites, they need to either be subsidized by another income (see say a personal website that you host yourself - you pay for the domain and hosting if it's not local). Or by either selling a product (see many software companies), or lastly by using ads (see YouTube, Vimeo, and numerous other video sharing sites) I understand targeted ads being a nuisance and vehemently despise the datamining that supports said systems. But ads in general aren't an evil until they obfuscate the core material of a site. When you block ads, especially on YouTube for creators who use the platform to attract ads and sell their content then you prevent people who've worked to supply their income. If your issue is the ethics that are at odds with Alphabet and the privacy concerns, your fight is with your government to restrict them, Alphabet's own trackers (which you can work towards disabling).
    - waffle_maniac 5y ago
      I donate all the BAT I earn through auto contribute and through gifting of BAT to creators on YouTube. I’ve also contributed a significant amount to an open source developer on GitHub directly through Brave.
oauea 5y ago
Have you not heard of addons? Specifically ublock origin?
- waffle_maniac 5y ago
  I like the idea of being paid to view ads and then donating to YouTubers or Wikipedia. It's pretty cool.
  - oauea 5y ago
    I like the idea of not seeing ads. It's pretty cool.

* Brave ads are optin * Machine learning for ads is done locally; can't be evil * Trackers and third party ads are blocked. When is FireFox going to block third party ads and trackers?

woodruffw 5y ago

My understanding is that Firefox has supported in-browser blocking of third-party ads, trackers, fingerprinters, &c., for a while now[1]. > * Machine learning for ads is done locally; can't be evil There are too many moving pieces to this to dissect in a single comment. But to roughly sum them up: just about every adtech company that promises "privacy preserving targeted advertising" via ML uses some information-theoretical definition of privacy that doesn't align with normal user's intuitions about the word "private." We saw this with k-anonymity schemes, and we'll see it again when these schemes attract more scrutiny. And on top of that: Brave's own site implies that local ad ML is currently opt-in only[2]. [1]: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/enhanced-tracking-protection-firefox-desktop https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/enhanced-tracking-prote... [2]: https://brave.com/intro-to-brave-ads/ https://brave.com/intro-to-brave-ads/

waffle_maniac 5y ago
> My understanding is that Firefox has supported in-browser blocking of third-party ads, trackers, fingerprinters, &c., for a while now I see the part about trackers. What about ads? Does it also block YouTube ads? That's a really nice feature built into Brave. > just about every adtech company that promises "privacy preserving targeted advertising" via ML The difference here is it happens in the browser. Does ML happen in Chrome? > Brave's own site implies that local ad ML is currently opt-in only Your reading of that isn't correct. The opt in is for ads. And local machine learning comes along with opting in.
- throwaway946513 5y ago
  > I see the part about trackers, what about ads? Doe sit also block YouTube ads? Ads are the way the internet can be funded. For most free sites, they need to either be subsidized by another income (see say a personal website that you host yourself - you pay for the domain and hosting if it's not local). Or by either selling a product (see many software companies), or lastly by using ads (see YouTube, Vimeo, and numerous other video sharing sites) I understand targeted ads being a nuisance and vehemently despise the datamining that supports said systems. But ads in general aren't an evil until they obfuscate the core material of a site. When you block ads, especially on YouTube for creators who use the platform to attract ads and sell their content then you prevent people who've worked to supply their income. If your issue is the ethics that are at odds with Alphabet and the privacy concerns, your fight is with your government to restrict them, Alphabet's own trackers (which you can work towards disabling).
  - waffle_maniac 5y ago
    I donate all the BAT I earn through auto contribute and through gifting of BAT to creators on YouTube. I’ve also contributed a significant amount to an open source developer on GitHub directly through Brave.

oauea 5y ago

Have you not heard of addons? Specifically ublock origin?

waffle_maniac 5y ago
I like the idea of being paid to view ads and then donating to YouTubers or Wikipedia. It's pretty cool.
- oauea 5y ago
  I like the idea of not seeing ads. It's pretty cool.