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Firefox 128 enables "privacy-preserving" ad measurements by default

mstdn.social

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Re: Firefox 128 enables "privacy-preserving" ad measurements by default

#141

Post by mrweasel »

no_way wrote: post #131
mrweasel wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Web needs to make money Absolutely, but as long as adverting is allowed to finance the whole bloody thing we're not going to improve anything. Advertising should be limited as to not influence content and that's currently not what's happing. As it stand, outside of "the small web" ads are the main attraction and any content that may be provided to us is done so to enable advertising, or at least not upset advertise…

I agree somewhat, but what about poorer regions of the world like parts of Africa or Asia, what is the solution for them? Most of the people there would not or could not pay for every website to use. It would be unfortunate if the web is inaccessible for most people.

> what is the solution for them

Locally produced, given the cheaper labour cost they should also be able to compete in the EU or US by offering a cheaper product, due to cheaper production cost. At least in some areas.

I don't think the current state of the web is doing poor regions any favours by granting the free access to western products, compared to encouraging or even forcing them to build their own infrastructure or products.

Donating Europe's discarded clothing to Africa killed pretty much all of Africa's textile industry. Free access to the online services from the west (or China) is just as much of an obstacle to growing their own technology and media companies.

Edit: Free access to general knowledge, open source software and learning material is clearly a bonus, but it also takes little away from local industry and can help kick start companies.

Re: Firefox 128 enables "privacy-preserving" ad measurements by default

#142

Post by account42 »

ndriscoll wrote: post #130
pasc1878 wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes although given current user behaviour and expectations I doubt they would make enough money to continue. If even a Microsoft Executive is saying that anything on the web can be freely copied then what does a normal user think.

They're a charitable nonprofit, and the Mozilla license is one of the more permissive ones; they're fine with you freely sharing their work. They currently already get 7M/year in donations for no purpose. I imagine they'd get a lot more if that money would fund Firefox, and how many core/paid developers do they really need if they have people that know that they're doing?

Mozilla also doesn't have to operate out of one of the most expensive cities in the world. And no, they don't have to be there to attract competent developers either.

Re: Firefox 128 enables "privacy-preserving" ad measurements by default

#144

Post by g15jv2dp »

madeofpalk wrote: post #70
account42 wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well since theft is also not going anywhere would you be OK with the police helping thieves as long as they make sure the thieves don't damage your house while taking your stuff? Why do you think the advertising industry is pushing for this kind of crap? Because they ARE scared that the world is finally waking up to them and making their business effectively illegal.

I mean, this is the idea behind legalising weed and injections sites

Who's the victim when someone steals something from your house? Who's the victim when someone does drugs? You cannot compare the two.

Re: Firefox 128 enables "privacy-preserving" ad measurements by default

#145

Post by nolist_policy »

pennomi wrote: post #114
happyraul wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do OSS devs support themselves without money?

The Stardew Valley gambit - quit programming and take up subsistence farming.

Good luck. Farming is a hard business if you want to make money. And you'll need money for electricity, fuel, medicine, etc.

Re: Firefox 128 enables "privacy-preserving" ad measurements by default

#146

Post by lolinder »

no_way wrote: post #88
account42 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The scare quotes here are uncalled for: it is privacy-preserving. It is strictly less privacy-preserving than not implementing this "feature" that has zero benefit to the user running the browser. At the very least it pings yet another third party, most likely it effectively leaks much more. > The best objection to these proposals isn't privacy, it's that a browser vendor is lifting a finger for advertisers. I gues…

Web needs to make money. Giving tools to advertisers while making sure user privacy is preserved is better than free reign of tracking we have before, no? I myself do not like ads or tracking, but we need to be realistic and there needs a way to make web sustainable. How to do that and making sure that monopolies like Google are in check is a valid concern though, but in these conversations is the only point I hear.…

> make web sustainable.

I'm old enough to remember a day when the "social media" that I used was a set of phpBB forums paid for by one or more of the members because they wanted to host the community. Nothing on the modern ad-supported web comes close to the dynamic of friendship and camaraderie of those community-supported forums—if anything the new platforms are a great place to ruin real-life friendships rather than create new ones.

So, no, I don't think the web needs to be made "sustainable" in the sense you seem to mean. Things were better when people sacrificed a bit to keep their communities alive.

Re: Firefox 128 enables "privacy-preserving" ad measurements by default

#147

Post by ndriscoll »

mrweasel wrote: post #141
no_way wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree somewhat, but what about poorer regions of the world like parts of Africa or Asia, what is the solution for them? Most of the people there would not or could not pay for every website to use. It would be unfortunate if the web is inaccessible for most people.

> what is the solution for them Locally produced, given the cheaper labour cost they should also be able to compete in the EU or US by offering a cheaper product, due to cheaper production cost. At least in some areas. I don't think the current state of the web is doing poor regions any favours by granting the free access to western products, compared to encouraging or even forcing them to build their own infrastruct…

General knowledge, FOSS, and learning material are also generally freely given without expectation of or often even asking for compensation. The most valuable "content" on the web is generally not monetized[0].

They wouldn't be losing a lot if they lost out on TikTok and Instagram. It would be no great loss if affiliate link blog spam went away.

[0] e.g. https://axler.net/ has multiple free books on advanced mathematics written by a well-regarded author. This kind of thing (and/or lecture notes, syllabi, and homework) is not at all abnormal to find on professors' home pages if you want a free education.

Re: Firefox 128 enables "privacy-preserving" ad measurements by default

#148

Post by strix_varius »

PedroBatista wrote: post #69

I've been using Firefox for more than 20 years since the Phoenix days, even when it was cleary slower than Chrome (it still is but the diferences are minimal ) I'm not acting surprised, but I think it's more than time to start looking into a viable alternative. It's "Chromium" (?) still a thing? Do you guys know if there is a browser based on Firefox that doesn't have any of the BS Mozilla is putting into their brows…

I use Brave on all platforms (fedora, osx, android). It's essentially chromium + built in ublock style blocking, with privacy defaults turned on throughout.

Re: Firefox 128 enables "privacy-preserving" ad measurements by default

#149

Post by ibejoeb »

prime17569 wrote: post #11

FYI Safari has been doing this (also enabled by default) for years on all Apple platforms. To disable it on macOS: Safari > Preferences/Settings > Advanced > Uncheck "Allow privacy-preserving measurement of ad effectiveness" To disable it on iOS: Settings > Safari > Advanced (scroll all the way down) > Turn off "Privacy Preserving Ad Measurement"

Hang on. What does it mean to disable this?

1. Does it disable measurement?

- or -

2. Does it disable the privacy-preserving feature, i.e., enable tracking?

What I really want to know: is it better for me to check the box or not?

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