Id say the title is incorrect, as its still selling ads based on your browsing - its just they arent directly capturing the addresses - instead using some ML for cohort analysis via their "Privacy Sandbox".
It seems to me that this is actually giving them more reach, as now it wont just be websites using google analytics, etc - but EVERY website you visit, unless the site owner specifically opts out - a google-made blackbox that sees EVERY site you visit and labels you accordingly
Few questions for the knowledgeable:
- Is it be possible to disable?
- Will they be releasing the datasets for how these ML models are constructed?
- Do sites in "incogito mode" contribute to analysis?
"A site should be able to declare that it does not want to be included in the user's list of sites for cohort calculation. This can be accomplished via a new interest-cohort permissions policy." For a per-user opt out, a browser extension could easily block it.
> Will they be releasing the datasets for how these ML models are constructed?
"The browser uses machine learning algorithms to develop a cohort based on the sites that an individual visits. The algorithms might be based on the URLs of the visited sites, on the content of those pages, or other factors. The central idea is that these input features to the algorithm, including the web history, are kept local on the browser and are not uploaded elsewhere — the browser only exposes the generated cohort."
This code will be in the browser, which is open source.
> Do sites in "incogito mode" contribute to analysis?
"All sites with publicly routable IP addresses that the user visits when not in incognito mode will be included in the POC cohort calculation."
(Disclosure: I work on ads at Google, speaking only for myself)
No. You suggest this is possible with an extension, but it clearly wouldn't be permitted in chrome store (as per well known ad-blockers). Why wouldn't it be a setting in the browser? Clearly anti-user practices.
> Will they be releasing the datasets for how these ML models are constructed?
No. You suggest that the code is in the browser (which i doubt - its certainly not at the moment!). Even if it were it is effectively useless without the training datasets. i.e. its a blackbox.
> Do sites in "incogito mode" contribute to analysis?
> it clearly wouldn't be permitted in chrome store (as per well known ad-blockers)
Why wouldn't it be permitted? Many ad blockers [1][2][3] are in the Chrome store. Disabling a browser feature is a very standard usage of extensions.
> Why wouldn't it be a setting in the browser?
It might be! I don't know what Chrome (or other browsers that choose to implement the API) will decide. The proposal is not that far along yet. You could consider filing an issue at https://github.com/WICG/floc/issues
> You suggest that the code is in the browser (which i doubt - its certainly not at the moment!)
It seems to me that this is actually giving them more reach, as now it wont just be websites using google analytics, etc - but EVERY website you visit, unless the site owner specifically opts out - a google-made blackbox that sees EVERY site you visit and labels you accordingly
Few questions for the knowledgeable: