Search:  

 
 
   All ForumsHot TopicsGallery






how-to block ads


 
Forums » WWW Creator Not A Fan Of Behavioral Advertising » HTTPS
Search Topic:
Share Topic:
RSS topic:
toggle:
flat / full
normal / watch
Post a:
Post a:
Couldn't agree.... »
AuthorAll Replies


factchecker

@charter.com

reply to TKJunkMail
Re: HTTPS

said by TKJunkMail See Profile :

Would it? They would still have the URL you went to whether it was HTTP or HTTPS. So if you went to HTTPS://IhaveCancer.org they would still have that info to sell.
They would see the URL, but that is it.

HTTPS would definitely go a long way toward foiling Phorm. Phorm uses an algorithm that scans webpages as they are loaded and finds "key words" and uses them to customize the ads for the user. The Register had a good summary of how Phorm works a few days ago...

said by »www.theregister.co.uk/2008/03/07···rtegrul/ :

Explain for our readers how Phorm's profiling system works.

Marc Burgess: What the profiler does is it first cleans the data. It's looking at two sets of information: the information in the request that's sent to the website and then information in the page that comes back.

From the request it pulls out the URL, and if that URL is a well known search engine such as Google or Yahoo! it'll also look for the search terms that are in the request.

And then from the information returned by the website, the profiler looks at the content. The first thing it does is it ignores several classes of information that could potentially be sensitive. So there's no form fields, no numbers, no email addresses (that is something containing an "@") and anything containing a title like Mr or Mrs.


jap
Premium
join:2003-08-10
038xx
·RoadRunner Cable

said by factchecker :

Phorm uses an algorithm that scans webpages as they are loaded and finds "key words" and uses them to customize the ads for the user. The Register had a good summary of how Phorm works a few days ago...

»www.theregister.co.uk/2008/03/07···rtegrul/
Cripes. I never thought of backtracking to scan referring url. Bastards. No way for a client to detect presence of such a server tool either. Maybe some kind Mozilla user - who doesn't work for a data mining company - has created a redirect plugin. Time to locate some form of local referrer washer.

Thanks for the Register link. Evil for server owners to install such a tool.

[reminisces the pre-commercial web days]
Forums » WWW Creator Not A Fan Of Behavioral AdvertisingCouldn't agree.... »


Tuesday, 08-Dec 19:46:40 Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Hosting by www.nac.net - DSL,Hosting & Co-lo | feedback | contact
over 10 years online! © 1999-2009 dslreports.com.
page compression OFF
Most commented news this week
· [192] Sprint Sued For Distracted Driving Death
· [81] 3G Network Test Says AT&T Is Tops
· [71] Mediacom Unveils 105 Mbps Pricing
· [54] Sprint Poised For A Turnaround?
· [49] The Future Of Wi-Fi Is Bright
· [47] Site Leaks Yahoo, Verizon Fed Data Share Pricing
· [44] Microwaving Your Innards Is Not 'Extreme'
· [43] WPA Cracker: Test WPA-PSK Networks In 20 Minutes
· [39] Verizon LTE: 5-12 Mbps Downstream
· [18] Verizon Settles With NJ Over Misleading FiOS Marketing
Most people now reading
· Servers UP!!! [World of Warcraft]
· Google chief: Only miscreants worry about net privacy [Security]
· World of Warcraft Client Patch 3.3.0 (12-08-2009) [World of Warcraft]
· Windows 7 boot manager editing questions [Microsoft Help]
· Account Hacked With Authenticator [World of Warcraft]
· Comcast Customers: Would You Prefer Metered Billing? [Comcast HSI]
· CRTC Response to ME: You will be Band F FOREVER!!! [TekSavvy]
· Top 10 things to do while servers are down! [World of Warcraft]
· World of Warcraft Client Patch 3.3 (12-8-2009) [World of Warcraft]
· Comcast refused to install 400' feet. [Comcast HSI]