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The privacy nightmare of browser fingerprinting

kevinboone.me

21–30 of 456 posts

Re: The privacy nightmare of browser fingerprinting

#21

I agree with the points in the article. Fingerprinting of any kind is a major risk for personal freedom. At the same time I want to make sure that content creators are compensated for their work. Ad firms that employ fingerprinting stand between me and the content creator. That said, I'm not going to pay $5/month for every blog that I occasionally read. The ad based model provides a more streamlined approach to compe…

> I'm not going to pay $5/month for every blog that I occasionally read Would you pay per view? Most people (me included) would probably hesitate to say yes, because we’re used to not paying for that. But what if it meant that ad based model is gone and everything you buy is cheaper because the price does not include the cost of running ads?

Hard to say, there's no shortage of enticing looking medium articles that are superficial and worthless. I would not pay per view that trash even though there are good ones buried in the pile.

Re: The privacy nightmare of browser fingerprinting

#22

How exactly do advertisers take fingerprints and translate that to targeted ads for each user?

The browser history is collected across multiple sites to form a profile. If the user ever enters their email address or logs in, their entire history is deanonymized.

Re: The privacy nightmare of browser fingerprinting

#24

How exactly do advertisers take fingerprints and translate that to targeted ads for each user?

A combo of your IP, browser fingerprint plus the fact that you logged in somewhere and that links to your actual name etc. Identify you in isolation is not very useful. It's connecting that identity to another place that's valuable.

Re: The privacy nightmare of browser fingerprinting

#25

I agree with the points in the article. Fingerprinting of any kind is a major risk for personal freedom. At the same time I want to make sure that content creators are compensated for their work. Ad firms that employ fingerprinting stand between me and the content creator. That said, I'm not going to pay $5/month for every blog that I occasionally read. The ad based model provides a more streamlined approach to compe…

> I'm not going to pay $5/month for every blog that I occasionally read Would you pay per view? Most people (me included) would probably hesitate to say yes, because we’re used to not paying for that. But what if it meant that ad based model is gone and everything you buy is cheaper because the price does not include the cost of running ads?

How do you track the views?

Re: The privacy nightmare of browser fingerprinting

#26

I agree with the points in the article. Fingerprinting of any kind is a major risk for personal freedom. At the same time I want to make sure that content creators are compensated for their work. Ad firms that employ fingerprinting stand between me and the content creator. That said, I'm not going to pay $5/month for every blog that I occasionally read. The ad based model provides a more streamlined approach to compe…

They don't get $5 per month from ads. So the true subscription price must be a lot lower.

One option: a fund where you buy tokens, that you can spend reading an article. That will, however, lead to more clickbait and AI slop and snowing under serious blogs with low volume.

Re: The privacy nightmare of browser fingerprinting

#27

I agree with the points in the article. Fingerprinting of any kind is a major risk for personal freedom. At the same time I want to make sure that content creators are compensated for their work. Ad firms that employ fingerprinting stand between me and the content creator. That said, I'm not going to pay $5/month for every blog that I occasionally read. The ad based model provides a more streamlined approach to compe…

> I'm not quite sure what the answer is.

It's very simple, it's what they've been doing in print media for centuries: contextual advertising.

Re: The privacy nightmare of browser fingerprinting

#28

I agree with the points in the article. Fingerprinting of any kind is a major risk for personal freedom. At the same time I want to make sure that content creators are compensated for their work. Ad firms that employ fingerprinting stand between me and the content creator. That said, I'm not going to pay $5/month for every blog that I occasionally read. The ad based model provides a more streamlined approach to compe…

Pay $5/month to buy credits that let you read content behind that network. Every blog you read gets $0.10. Top up with credits if you run out. Sending emails costs $0.50.

Eh, that's too expensive unless the recipient can authorize refunds for non-spam emails.

But yes, I always thought some form of network syndication would emerge on the Web, where creators could register for their share of aggregated periodic payments made by users.

Still not sure why that's not a thing. I would pay $50/month to a syndicate in return for never having to deal with paywalls on any sites affiliated with them. But only as long as the vast majority of sites participated, and that is probably the showstopper, I guess. We'd end up paying 20 different 'syndicates' for absolutely no good reason, just as we now have to deal with 20 different streaming services.

Re: The privacy nightmare of browser fingerprinting

#30

I agree with the points in the article. Fingerprinting of any kind is a major risk for personal freedom. At the same time I want to make sure that content creators are compensated for their work. Ad firms that employ fingerprinting stand between me and the content creator. That said, I'm not going to pay $5/month for every blog that I occasionally read. The ad based model provides a more streamlined approach to compe…

> I'm not going to pay $5/month for every blog that I occasionally read Would you pay per view? Most people (me included) would probably hesitate to say yes, because we’re used to not paying for that. But what if it meant that ad based model is gone and everything you buy is cheaper because the price does not include the cost of running ads?

I would. Or alternatively I'd also pay for a Spotify style model where my monthly amount get redistributed amongst the articles I read.
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