Live data from Hacker News

Private search browser Cliqz buys Ghostery ad-tracker tool

techcrunch.com

11–12 of 12 posts

Re: Private search browser Cliqz buys Ghostery ad-tracker tool

#11
post #2

Probably anyone who's interested will know, but I think that it's worth noting that Ghostery ( https://www.ghostery.com ) is not tracking software; it is anti -tracking software, meant to track ads' tracking behaviour. (Thus this purchase is, presumably, a good thing.) I think that calling it an "ad-tracker tool" risks misleading the casual reader.

The thing always got mentioned whenever Ghostery is brought up is that they were owned by an advertising company that sold user data. I wonder how Cliqz plans to make this a profitable venture (besides being another Mozilla charity case)?

> I wonder how Cliqz plans to make this a profitable venture (besides being another Mozilla charity case)?

Whether or not it's a convincing case, the article does address that:

> Cliqz has previously discussed its plans to monetize this pro-privacy approach and usage of its free, anti-tracking browser and search products via a companion Cliqz Offers app — that will be designed to broadcast all offers to all users so Cliqz does not need to track individuals’ browsing habits to power ad targeting. Rather tracking of browsing habits occurs locally, on a user’s device, allowing for the tech to display pertinent offers to users without Cliqz itself needing to be party to its users’ browsing behavior.

Re: Private search browser Cliqz buys Ghostery ad-tracker tool

#12
post #10
post #2

Probably anyone who's interested will know, but I think that it's worth noting that Ghostery ( https://www.ghostery.com ) is not tracking software; it is anti -tracking software, meant to track ads' tracking behaviour. (Thus this purchase is, presumably, a good thing.) I think that calling it an "ad-tracker tool" risks misleading the casual reader.

Rather than anti-tracking software , I believe even by your definition ( meant to track ads' tracking behaviour ) it would be considered tracker -tracking software. I believe part of what they do is verify advertisers are getting their money's worth on their ads.

> Rather than anti-tracking software, I believe even by your definition (meant to track ads' tracking behaviour) it would be considered tracker-tracking software.

Fair enough; I didn't mean to claim that the headline was objectively wrong, just that it risked being misleading. I am fine with software tracking lots of stuff online, as long as it doesn't expose my private data to someone else. (Whether Ghostery meets my personal bar I can't say; I found its UI on Firefox unpleasant, and switched to Privacy Badger.)

Post reply on HN