Brave browser catches Google tracking users with hidden web pages

[steven36]

That doesn't sound GDPR-compliant ...

 

 

Brave, the budding privacy-focused browser with its own native cryptocurrency, has alleged that Google is using hidden web pages to feed personal data of its users to advertisers, reports Financial Times.

The evidence, now in the hands of the Irish data regulator, reportedly accuses the Big G of allowing users (and their browsing habits) to be profiled, resulting in targeted advertisements.

 

It’s claimed that these actions circumvent EU privacy regulations that demand user consent, as well as transparency from tech giants like Google.

Remember: Google is Brave’s number one competitor

According to Financial Times, Brave‘s chief policy officer Johnny Ryan discovered Google‘s alleged secret web pages after tracking his data as it was traded on Google‘s advertising exchange Authorized Buyers, formally known as DoubleClick.

 

Ryan’s evidence reportedly shows Google had “labelled him with an identifying tracker that it fed to third-party companies that logged on to a hidden web page.”

 

That web page allegedly showed no content, but contained a “unique address” that linked directly to Ryan’s browsing activity. After one hour of browsing the web using Google Chrome, the report said that Ryan found six separate pages had sent his identifier to at least eight adtech companies.

 

Brave then reportedly commissioned an adtech analyst to reproduce Ryan’s findings. They recruited “hundreds of people” to test Google over one month.

 

Financial Times states that investigation confirmed Google‘s alleged ‘secret web page identifiers’ were indeed unique to each user. Analysts found they had been shared with multiple advertising companies to boost the effectiveness of targeted advertising.

 

The outlet also reported that a Google spokesperson had said: “We do not serve personalised ads or send bid requests to bidders without user consent.”

 

Google is reportedly co-operating with Ireland’s data regulator in its investigation.

 

Source

[Infinite_Vision]

I knew for a couple of months now that something like this was going on but I just couldn't prove it myself.  Bravo to Johnny Ryan for doing the research for us and verifying that something fishy was going on.  Every browser is moving toward anti-tracking and anti-fingering.  Which one browser is slow to do it?  Why?  Money?  Thanks Steven36 and other anons here, I have learned a lot these past couple of months on here.  I didn't know how bad it was until I begin to do my own research and also by reading articles on here. 

[Jogs]

Google makes most of its money by selling users' data, so they will never stop doing it, even if they have to do it illegally.

As time goes by we will get to know more and more tricks used by it to gather users data.

[Cereberus]

googe consent = instaling chrome? (they don't explain how you are getting screwed over)

 

okay. so i moved to brave browser. so fuk u google.