Google Inc. with initiative , which proposed several APIs for implementation in browsers, allowing a compromise between users' need to maintain privacy and the desire of advertising networks and websites to track visitor preferences.
Experience shows that confrontation only exacerbates the situation. For example, the introduction of blocking tracking cookies has led to more intense use of alternative techniques, such as indirect identification methods (browser fingerprinting), which attempt to single out users from the general population based on specific settings they apply (installed fonts, MIME types, encryption modes, etc.) and hardware features (screen resolution, specific rendering artifacts, etc.).
Google proposes to provide a native , which will allow advertising networks to determine a user's interest category but will not allow for individual identification. The API will operate on general interest groups covering large anonymized masses of users (for example, 'classical music lovers'), but will not allow manipulation of data at the level of specific site visit histories.
To measure advertising effectiveness and assess click conversions, the , provides the ability to obtain summarized information about user activity on a site after clicking on an ad.
To separate fraudulent and spam activity from the general flow (for instance, click fraud or carrying out false transactions to deceive advertisers and website owners), a , has been prepared, based on the use of the Privacy Pass protocol, which is already used by CloudFlare to classify Tor users. The API allows distinguishing between trustworthy and untrustworthy users without the use of cross-site identifiers.
To prevent indirect identification, a technique is proposed The essence of the method is that the browser provides information that can potentially be used for identification only to a certain extent. If the limit on the number of API requests is exceeded and the issuance of further information could compromise anonymity, access to specific APIs is blocked.
Source: opennet.ru
