It is now known that Google monitors everything on the Internet.
The 2020 the Google announced the beginning of the end of cookies who are watching you as you click on the Chrome browser or whatever you are using.
But the company has started releasing the cookie-cutter, a monitoring mechanism called "Federated Learning of Cohorts" or simply FLoC.
Cookies remember information with your login details or the content you saw in an online store. Advertisers use this information to better understand your online behavior even if you are offline and then serve you specific, targeted ads that follow you on the Internet.
Google has said it wants to make Internet browsing less intrusive, but on the other hand it wants to keep making money from the Internet.
Αυτό οδήγησε σε μετατόπιση από τα cookies στο σύστημα FLoC. Η συγκεκριμένη τεχνολογία ομαδοποιεί τους χρήστες με παρόμοια ενδιαφέροντα βάσει του ιστορικού περιήγησης. Ένα αναγνωριστικό (ID) που έχει εκχωρηθεί στην ομάδα σας ακολουθεί στο Διαδίκτυο. Στους διαφημιζόμενους, η Google προσφέρει “advertising βάσει ενδιαφέροντος”.
Google considers technology an "alternative to privacy" instead of cookies, as your browser history is not transmitted directly to advertisers, only your ID. Thousands of users could be part of such a group.
A whitepaper Google's FLoCs summarize the benefits of privacy (according to Google), leaving users "hidden in the crowd". Based on your browsing history, you could be in a group of dog owners who have visited many sites instead of being selected as individual dog owners who went to a pet shop for example.
By watching Chrome FLoC, you will join a group that likes or has dogs instead of joining a group of other people who have visited the same sites but who have or like cats. Each user can participate in many groups based on their interests. And because many Chrome users are logged in to their Google Accounts, their IDs follow (and are further configured).
Η διαδικτυακή ομάδα υπεράσπισης απορρήτου, Electronic frontier Foundation, δεν υποστηρίζει αυτή τη νέα μορφή διαδικτυακής παρακολούθησης που αναπαράγει το ιστορικό σας στο διαδίκτυο για να ομαδοποιεί με μεγαλύτερη ακρίβεια και να συγκεντρώνει περισσότερες πληροφορίες σε ένα ID (αυτό είναι γνωστό ως fingerprinting).
The EFF is also concerned that testing for the new monitoring method has begun without the user's consent or knowledge and without any clear exception.
In response to this new type of monitoring, the EFF created a website to check if the Chrome you are using generates an ID to join you in a group.
At present (according to Google) the tests are performed on a small group of users. However, the EFF reminds you to keep checking, as each week you could be added to the company teams as the tests expand.
