4 ms·

Could an extension send back random topics to poison the well?

lelandfe 5y ago
YES. I love it. If Topics are simply determined by a user’s browsing history, perhaps loading a lot of junk in the background - or even manipulating Chrome’s history directly?
- moritonal 5y ago
  Well you've hit the nail on the head really. Unless it's signed somehow, what stopping Brave providing random to the websites, thus meaning they're unable to trust the result making the whole thing moot? Worse yet, if there is a signing process, that'd be a verifiable way of proving a user's client-browser, which is arguably worse.
- jeroenhd 5y ago
  Google banned it from the Chrome addon listing, but AdNauseam was built with somewhat the same idea: poisoning ad profiles by injecting fake user behaviour. It hides ads (it's based on uBlock Origin, after all) but it still loads all the scripts and clicks every ad it can detect to poison your ad profile and tell off advertisers. It can also present a nice overview of the banners clicked. The addon still works, but it seems to be in a state of limited maintenance.
  - judge2020 5y ago
    Clicking ads is effectively ad fraud and you'll surely tank your IP reputation (incl. recaptcha and other 'IPs with malware/hacked IoT on them' lists).
    - jeroenhd 5y ago
      I can't be sad about my IP's reputation on ad networks. It's also not fraud unless I'm the one putting the ads on the internet. Their business model doesn't decide what links I do and do not click on my computer and in what way that clicking is being done. Their terms of service are meaningless because I never agreed to them and I do not have a contract with the ad companies telling me how to use my browser either. If they want me to stop clicking their ads, they can send me white rectangles without click listeners or hrefs. I've never heard of any IP filter that takes this stuff into account, do you know which lists care about ad networks?

YES. I love it. If Topics are simply determined by a user’s browsing history, perhaps loading a lot of junk in the background - or even manipulating Chrome’s history directly?

moritonal 5y ago
Well you've hit the nail on the head really. Unless it's signed somehow, what stopping Brave providing random to the websites, thus meaning they're unable to trust the result making the whole thing moot? Worse yet, if there is a signing process, that'd be a verifiable way of proving a user's client-browser, which is arguably worse.
jeroenhd 5y ago
Google banned it from the Chrome addon listing, but AdNauseam was built with somewhat the same idea: poisoning ad profiles by injecting fake user behaviour. It hides ads (it's based on uBlock Origin, after all) but it still loads all the scripts and clicks every ad it can detect to poison your ad profile and tell off advertisers. It can also present a nice overview of the banners clicked. The addon still works, but it seems to be in a state of limited maintenance.
- judge2020 5y ago
  Clicking ads is effectively ad fraud and you'll surely tank your IP reputation (incl. recaptcha and other 'IPs with malware/hacked IoT on them' lists).
  - jeroenhd 5y ago
    I can't be sad about my IP's reputation on ad networks. It's also not fraud unless I'm the one putting the ads on the internet. Their business model doesn't decide what links I do and do not click on my computer and in what way that clicking is being done. Their terms of service are meaningless because I never agreed to them and I do not have a contract with the ad companies telling me how to use my browser either. If they want me to stop clicking their ads, they can send me white rectangles without click listeners or hrefs. I've never heard of any IP filter that takes this stuff into account, do you know which lists care about ad networks?