Sundar Pichai : Google don’t need Cookies

 

 

Context :

Google Has a New Plan to Kill Cookies. People Are Still Mad   /  Wired  /  27 Jan 2022

Extract :

 

Google’s plan to remove third-party cookies from Chrome hasn’t gone smoothly.

This week the company announced it was scrapping Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC), a key part of its plan, and replacing it with a new system called Topics

In the third quarter of 2021 alone, the search giant made $53 billion from advertising

Topics works by analyzing your browsing history to work out the things you’re interested in.

If you like cars, for example, Topics will show you adverts for cars on the websites that you visit. To work out that you like cars, each website that uses Google’s Topics API will be assigned an overall category.

A website about tattooing, for instance, may fall into the body art category; a city newspaper would likely be assigned to the local news category.

As you move around the web, Chrome will record the categories you visit the most.

Then, each week, your five most popular categories will be gathered up—and a sixth random topic will be added to add some noise in the system.

These six categories are then shared with the websites you visit and are used to target the ads you see. The data is deleted after three weeks.

That earlier system used browsing history to group people with thousands of others with similar interests.

If Google’s algorithms determined you were interested in dogs, you’d be put in the same category as others who like dogs.

He says that under FLoC, people could have been grouped into more than 30,000 different categories, which would allow advertisers to gain specific knowledge of their interests.

This information could then be combined with other data to build up an incredibly detailed picture of each and every one of us.

This is less likely in Topics, as there are around 350 interest categories that can be assigned to people..

Another potential difference between FLoC and Topics is that Google claims the latter will attempt to avoid assigning “sensitive categories” to people—such as allowing individuals to be shown ads based on their race or gender.

FLoC was criticized for potentially being able to generate or infer sensitive attributes through people’s behavior and interests.

Google says people will be given more control over the interest areas that are assigned to them and can change settings, block topics, and opt out in Chrome.

But, realistically, it’s unlikely many people will change Chrome’s settings in this way.

Paul Bannister, cofounder of the ad management firm CafeMedia, says that Topics seems to be a step forward for people’s privacy. “Those topics are fixed, so it's harder to find unique segments that are really interesting to your marketing campaign,” he says.

Ultimately, Topics may help Google stay at the top of the advertising industry for decades to come.

Regulators could force Google to change its approach—the CMA’s investigation into Google’s Privacy Sandbox is still on going, and the regulator has already told the firm to make some changes. While Apple’s advertising business is rapidly growing, Google will still be Google.

The company owns the world’s largest browser and search engine, and a huge advertising network. Topics might differ from FLoC, but it’s purpose remains the same: to maintain Google’s control over the ads we see.

This must be read in conjunction with following data ( tabulated by me, to provide a Bird’s Eye View ) which appeared in Eco. Times / 06 Feb 2022 / Page 8 :

DIGITAL INTRUSION ? KNOW WHAT YOUR APPS CAN ACCESS ( All figures in % )

 

No	Parameter	Android Mobile App	IoS Mobile App	Indian Children App	Android Top Permissions	IoS Top Permissions	Children Privacy
1	Have access to your exact precise location	75			74	78	7
2	Have access to your Camera	68	69	21	68	69
3	Have access  to your Microphone	54			54	49	14
4	Have access to your location even when not in use		56
5	Have access to your Contacts		41		46	41	10
6	Have access to your Phone Details			28			28
7	Served In-App Ads			55			55
8	Provide In-app Purchase						55
9	Accessed at least one Dangerous Permission			87
10	Can read your SMS				33
11	Can use your Fingerprints				22
12	Can use your Calculator					29
13	Can read your Photos					62
14	Can access your files on storage						62

 

ON WEBSITES :

98 % …. Websites have at least one tracker embedded

21 ……….. Third Party Trackers are embedded in a website on an average. Out of these, 8 are Third Party

               Cookies

98 %.......Websites’ embedded 3^rd parties were involved in Advertising & Tracking

 

REMARKS :

Ø  The number of Android apps accessing camera and microphone permissions in smartphones, has increased from 45 % to 68 % and 28 % to 54 % , in the last 5 years, revealed a study by data security and privacy firm ARRKA

Ø  It comprised 201 mobile apps and websites and included 100 Indian Organizations, across 25 industries

Ø  The firm has been tracking these for the last 5 years and found that :

#  Google is the SINGLE LARGEST third party with whom data is being shared,

#  followed by Facebook

Ø  Google’s trackers are present in 97 % websites and Facebook’s trackers in 55 % websites

Ø  Around 42 % Android Apps share data with Google and 25 % with Facebook

 

 

Then the following news-report appeared today :

Govt willing to bring stricter social media rules: Vaishnaw to Rajya Sabha  /  HT  /  07 Feb 2022

Extract :

The government is willing to bring stricter rules to make social media companies accountable and ensure the safety of citizens on the internet if there is consensus in the House, Union electronics and information technology minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told Rajya Sabha on Friday.

The contours of the law were being discussed in the ministry. Officials familiar with the development said the new legislation may also expand to include user harm regulation and response, child safety concerns, moderation of political content, definitions and regulation of high-risk artificial technology, and privacy concerns surrounding new equipment such as wearable devices.

 

 Dear Shri Vaishnawji,

 

After reading the above-mentioned findings of ARRKA , I believe there will be a broad / general agreement among our MPs for the need to enact a suitable law “ to make social media companies accountable “

But, if you sincerely desire to bring about a QUICK – UNANIMOUS agreement ( not one dissent ), then tell the MPs :

We firmly believe that :

#  Personal Data is the  ‘ sole / exclusive / private ‘ property of each individual

    user of Social Media

#  Social Media ( including websites / apps ) have no right to collect / compile /

    collate such USER DATA (  under cleverly disguised “ I Agree “ terms ), and

    then SELL it to advertisers ( for targeting advts )

    

#  Social Media users have exclusive rights to SELL their data ( get fairly

    compensated for their data )

#  Our proposed law will enable the users to decide :

    What personal data she wants to SELL – and to Who ( of course, Anonymized

    and Aggregated ) – at SELLING PRICES to be fixed by the Portal described

    below

    

#  Our proposed Portal will enable advertisers to search USER DATABASE /

    generate DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILES and make ONLINE PAYMENT ( to

    shortlisted users ) for sending out TARGETED ADVTs ( delivered

    through that Portal – hence no revealing of mobile number / e-mail ID )

   

#  This mechanism will mean that no Social Media website / app , need to be

     granted any “ permission “ by the users for use of COOKIES / TRACKERS

    

#  We estimate that each Social Media User will receive ( approx. ) Rs 30,000 per

    month by registering his /her detailed PROFILE on our following proposed Portal

    

  SARAL  [Single  Authentic  Registration ( for )  Anywhere  Login ] [10 Feb 2019 ]

  Digital Dividend from Demographic Data [ 4 D ]…………………………. [ 14 Feb 2019 ]

 

With regards,

Hemen Parekh  /  hcp@RcruitGuru.com  /  07 Feb 2022

 

 

Related Readings :

Thank You, Ashwinibhai – Rajeevbhai……………………… [ 27 Dec 2021 ]

Only Answer :  a  Statutory  Warning  ………………… …..[10 Nov 2018 ]

Monetizing Personal Data, using Web 3.0 ? ……………[ 05 Dec 2021 ]

Thank You, Shri Saurabh Garg …………………………….[ 18 Dec 2021 ]