> The identity "Me while I'm visiting nytimes.com" is distinct from the identity "Me while visiting cnn.com".
Trying to solve this through purely technical means is futile. If you block it at the user-agent, sites will share data at the back-end to create a super-profile.
Right now it's really convenient for advertisers to run an ad auction right in the user's web browser because all the context is there -- take that away and you'll see user data aggregated on the back-end instead.
Absent some type of regulation and enforcement, I really don't see how this puts a dent in the "reads a lot of articles on NY times about dogs, sees a lot of ads on cnn.com for dog food" profile aggregation.
Trying to solve this through purely technical means is futile. If you block it at the user-agent, sites will share data at the back-end to create a super-profile.
Right now it's really convenient for advertisers to run an ad auction right in the user's web browser because all the context is there -- take that away and you'll see user data aggregated on the back-end instead.
Absent some type of regulation and enforcement, I really don't see how this puts a dent in the "reads a lot of articles on NY times about dogs, sees a lot of ads on cnn.com for dog food" profile aggregation.