Google has had trouble getting its FLoC ad technology past regulators. The EU launched an investigation into Google before FLoC was widely rolled out, and Google received similar threats from US antitrust investigators.
According to Jane Manchun Wong, reverse engineer Jane Manchun Wong, Twitter did not stop supporting intrusive profiling technology.
Twitter is working on collecting FLoC from users
FLoC is a web tracking tech created by Google that groups people into “cohorts” based on their browsing history https://t.co/Wjn6fh2DIV pic.twitter.com/QA1B2ztyXX
— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) July 2, 2021
Google has had trouble getting its FLoC ad technology past regulators. The EU launched an investigation into Google before FLoC was widely rolled out, and Google received similar threats from US antitrust investigators.
According to Jane Manchun Wong, reverse engineer Jane Manchun Wong, Twitter did not stop supporting intrusive profiling technology.
The company is ready to access your FLoC ID through your browser and will likely not block Google from viewing your tweets to add to your profile.
Google would use the technology to turn your Chrome browser into an ongoing surveillance tool that tracks your web activity.
Fifteen attorneys general have already charged the company with trying to place its Chrome browser at the center of tracking and target. The EFF is not impressed either. It claims that it reduces user anonymity and makes it easier for websites to use fingerprints.
WordPress, the company that manages 40% of worldwide websites, announced they would treat FLoC as a security risk and roll out a version of their CMS that blocks FLoC participation.
WordPress explained their opposition by saying that FLoC places people in groups based on their browsing habits. This is likely to facilitate discrimination and employment as well as housing and predatory targeting of unsophisticated customers. It could also share user data without users’ consent.
It is disappointing that Twitter, an anonymous social network, would share their user’s data with Google, who would then make the profile available to advertisers and websites worldwide.
Google allows you to disable FLoC with some difficulty, but it is possible to switch to another browser like Edge or Brave.
