Google,Yahoo和Facebook依靠的一个在线广告交换所使用的有争议的饼干从死者那里返回来跟踪Verizon客户的网络冲浪。
该公司称为转弯,正在利用hidden undeletable numberVerizon用来监视客户在智能手机和平板电脑上的习惯。Turn使用Verizon编号来重生跟踪用户已删除的cookie。
"We are trying to use the most persistent identifier that we can in order to do what we do," Max Ochoa, Turn's chief privacy officer, told ProPublica.
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转弯的僵尸饼干来了controversy关于跟踪电信行业的一种新形式,已部署为阴影手机用户。去年,Verizon和AT&T用户注意到他们的运营商正在将跟踪号插入从用户手机传输的所有网络流量中,即使用户试图选择退出。
用户抱怨他们从手机上访问的任何网站都可以使用跟踪号码来建立有关其行为的档案 - 他们去了哪些站点,使用了哪些应用程序。
十一月,AT&T停止使用数字。但是Verizon没有向用户保证on its website“网站和广告实体不太可能使用其标识符尝试构建客户资料”。
When asked about Turn's use of the Verizon number to respawn tracking cookies, a Verizon spokeswoman said, "We're reviewing the information you shared and will evaluate and take appropriate measures to address."
Turn privacy officer Ochoa said that his company had conversations with Verizon about Turn's use of the Verizon tracking number and said "they were quite satisfied."
斯坦福大学研究员发现了转弯的行动乔纳森·梅耶(Jonathan Mayer),,,,and confirmed by ProPublica's testing.
Turn和Verizon还建立了单独的营销合作伙伴关系,使Verizon可以共享有关其移动客户的匿名信息。4月,Verizon赞助了在纽约市举行的“称为“使性感重新衡量。”
Turn, which calls itself a "Digital Hub," may not be a household name but it is a huge back-end processor of ads on websites.
它是这样的工作:当用户访问包含转向跟踪代码的网站时,该公司将在毫秒内进行拍卖,以供广告客户瞄准该用户。当网页加载时,最高出价者的广告立即出现在用户屏幕上。转弯表示,它收到200万要求每秒在线广告安排的要求。
为了使其拍卖起作用,转弯需要通过cookie来识别网络用户,cookie是存储在其计算机上的小文本文件。Cookie允许转弯确定用户的网络浏览习惯,例如对体育或购物的兴趣,它用来吸引广告商参加拍卖。
一些用户试图通过关闭或删除cookie来阻止此类跟踪。但是转身说,当用户清除饼干时,它并不认为用户想要退出跟踪的信号。
“肯定有些人认为,如果他们清除饼干,就不会被追踪,这并不是严格准确的,”产品管理高级副总裁Joshua Koran说。
转弯高管说,用户选择退出的唯一方法是安装转到退出饼干在他们的机器上。该cookie并非旨在防止转弯收集有关用户的数据 - 只是为了防止向该用户显示有针对性的广告。
ProPublica的测试表明,即使安装了回合曲奇的Verizon用户也继续收到转弯跟踪Cookie。Turn表示,尽管出现了跟踪曲奇,但它仍继续纪念退出的饼干。
Initially, Turn officials also told ProPublica that its zombie cookie had a benefit for users: They said they were using the Verizon number to keep track of people who installed the Turn opt-out cookie, so that if they mistakenly deleted it, Turn could continue to honor their decisions to opt out.
但是,当Propublica测试了该主张时行业退出系统,,,,we found that it did not show Verizon users as opted out. Turn subsequently contacted us to say it had fixed what it said was a glitch, but our tests did not show it had been fixed.
无论哪种方式,此修复程序都不能解决已删除的cookie的复火 - 因为回合说这并不认为是用户意图的表达。
Turn首席隐私官Ochoa说:“这是我们尊重人们选择的绝对愿望。”
有关更多覆盖范围,请阅读ProPublica先前的报道Verizon的坚不可摧的跟踪and AT&T's decision to停止使用技术。
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