3 ms·

how is it supposed to retarget you without cookies then?

by jdangu 13y ago

WiseWeasel 13y ago
By fingerprinting you based your other identifying information, including things like your OS, browser version, screen resolution, installed fonts, computer host name, list of browser plugins and extensions, IP address and ISP, and possibly the sites you've visited.
- nl 13y ago
  Do you know for a fact that any retargetting companies are actually doing that, or just that it is possible? After the Facebook Beacon[1] and Google Safari cookie control bypass[2] settlements I would have thought legitimate companies would be a little reluctant to push the envelope so far as to explicitly bypass privacy controls. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook_Beacon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook_Beacon [2] http://www.informationweek.com/security/compliance/google-settles-with-state-ags-on-privacy/d/d-id/1112742 http://www.informationweek.com/security/compliance/google-se...
  - alxndr 13y ago
    If I were a retargeting company which did that, I'd probably keep it a secret.
  - ktsmith 13y ago
    There is at least one company doing this. I sat through a pitch a couple of weeks ago from a company touting that as their primary function. They couldn't explain how or if they dealt with users that don't have static ips, use proxies, are NATed or any other technical issue of course but it was a sales guy with a deck so not too surprising. I've asked my partner that was also on the call, and was actively being solicited, for the name and will update this post if he gets back to me tonight.
  - gohrt 13y ago
    > From the IWeek article: The FTC and 37 states have taken action only against Google, likely because Google's privacy policy stated that the company would comply with Safari users' tracking choices. > legitimate companies Google is both an advertising company and a product company (and big and famous), and also uses Don't Evil as part of its brand; this why it has a user-friendly privacy policy to keep it honest. B2B advertising companies, which is, like, all of them, have no need for privacy policies, unless their customers (website owners) demand them. And what website needs to have a privacy policy that impresses users? Googe, Facebook, sure, but cheapdiamondsonline.com?
- woud420 13y ago
  So basically, disable javascript.
  - PhantomGremlin 13y ago
    Bingo! I use NoScript (most sites disabled) with Firefox. I also clear everything whenever Firefox closes. I exit Firefox quite often. So the best way to track me would be using IP address. And if they don't use those very often, then ... no problem! I'm not sure why more people don't do this. On any newer computer and decent broadband connection, Firefox startup is almost instant, even if cache cleared, etc. There's very little penalty for restarts, even between individual websites. Certainly easy to do in the scenario in the article, i.e. between visits to online retailers. About my only reason to trust Chrome for browsing is for the built-in Flash, which St. Steven wisely eschewed. So I only switch to Chrome when I absolutely want to view some silly video in Flash. Which isn't very often. Maybe another way to deal with this is to set up some sort of Squid-like proxy on a firewall computer?
  - gohrt 13y ago
    No, your browser sends all that crap in the HTTP headers.

how is it supposed to retarget you without cookies then?

by jdangu 13y ago

how is it supposed to retarget you without cookies then?

By fingerprinting you based your other identifying information, including things like your OS, browser version, screen resolution, installed fonts, computer host name, list of browser plugins and extensions, IP address and ISP, and possibly the sites you've visited.

nl 13y ago
Do you know for a fact that any retargetting companies are actually doing that, or just that it is possible? After the Facebook Beacon[1] and Google Safari cookie control bypass[2] settlements I would have thought legitimate companies would be a little reluctant to push the envelope so far as to explicitly bypass privacy controls. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook_Beacon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook_Beacon [2] http://www.informationweek.com/security/compliance/google-settles-with-state-ags-on-privacy/d/d-id/1112742 http://www.informationweek.com/security/compliance/google-se...
- alxndr 13y ago
  If I were a retargeting company which did that, I'd probably keep it a secret.
- ktsmith 13y ago
  There is at least one company doing this. I sat through a pitch a couple of weeks ago from a company touting that as their primary function. They couldn't explain how or if they dealt with users that don't have static ips, use proxies, are NATed or any other technical issue of course but it was a sales guy with a deck so not too surprising. I've asked my partner that was also on the call, and was actively being solicited, for the name and will update this post if he gets back to me tonight.
- gohrt 13y ago
  > From the IWeek article: The FTC and 37 states have taken action only against Google, likely because Google's privacy policy stated that the company would comply with Safari users' tracking choices. > legitimate companies Google is both an advertising company and a product company (and big and famous), and also uses Don't Evil as part of its brand; this why it has a user-friendly privacy policy to keep it honest. B2B advertising companies, which is, like, all of them, have no need for privacy policies, unless their customers (website owners) demand them. And what website needs to have a privacy policy that impresses users? Googe, Facebook, sure, but cheapdiamondsonline.com?
woud420 13y ago
So basically, disable javascript.
- PhantomGremlin 13y ago
  Bingo! I use NoScript (most sites disabled) with Firefox. I also clear everything whenever Firefox closes. I exit Firefox quite often. So the best way to track me would be using IP address. And if they don't use those very often, then ... no problem! I'm not sure why more people don't do this. On any newer computer and decent broadband connection, Firefox startup is almost instant, even if cache cleared, etc. There's very little penalty for restarts, even between individual websites. Certainly easy to do in the scenario in the article, i.e. between visits to online retailers. About my only reason to trust Chrome for browsing is for the built-in Flash, which St. Steven wisely eschewed. So I only switch to Chrome when I absolutely want to view some silly video in Flash. Which isn't very often. Maybe another way to deal with this is to set up some sort of Squid-like proxy on a firewall computer?
- gohrt 13y ago
  No, your browser sends all that crap in the HTTP headers.