Privacy-focused AI tool challenges online ad surveillance

From shopping sites to social media apps, companies routinely collect and trade personal information, tracking users’ online behavior behind the scenes. Advocates say most people don’t realize it. A recent Pew survey found 67% of Americans say they understand “little or nothing” about what companies do with their personal data. Privacy groups warn that every click and swipe can feed a shadowy data market. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) asserts that companies track you every time you browse the web. Invisible scripts and cookies send details of users’ activity to dozens of firms, which then profile individuals or sell the data to the highest bidder

Businesses gather and disseminate personal information from retail and social media platforms. Activists claim that most are unaware of it. A Pew study found that 67% of Americans are unaware of how companies use their data, knowing “little or nothing” about it. Privacy advocates assert that each click and swipe contributes to a shadowy data marketplace. The EFF asserts, “Every time you browse the web, you are seeing.” A multitude of organizations engage in profiling or selling user data to the highest bidder through invisible scripts and cookies.

The HIV & AIDS section of WebMD activated 257 cookies from Google, Amazon, and data brokers, as discovered by EFF. Each cookie recognizes your browser, allowing companies to track your online activity. EFF contends that profiling has the potential to uncover details about strangers' "financial status, sexual orientation, and medical conditions." Insurers, hedge firms, scammers, and law enforcement rarely view these dossiers. Exploits in market targeting. EFF warns that payday lenders may exploit surveillance networks to locate borrowers in distress, while landlords might focus on race in their housing marketing strategies.

Smartphone applications pose certain risks. Numerous individuals seem to explore local services or weather updates while discreetly gathering information about their location or device. The Markup reports that popular discount applications utilize Foursquare's location SDK. Flipp, GasBuddy, and similar platforms share geolocation data with Foursquare when users search for offers. As noted by AppCensus app security expert Serge Egelman, "There is no guarantee” that an app will utilize your location data. Data marketplaces may include trading location or app-use information. Businesses monitor countless devices within the $12 billion mobile location-data industry.

Privacy activists assert that these tactics are beyond control. Ohio University law professor Aimee Edmondson contends that the patchwork of legislation contains “systemic” blind spots: companies can gather data and feed it into algorithms, rendering citizens powerless. Edmondson expressed, “We require a federal privacy law that restricts how companies gather, store, analyze, and sell our personal data, and technology can provide assistance until that law is enacted. Privacy Badger, a browser plugin from the EFF, effectively disables numerous trackers and is compatible with privacy-oriented browsers and extensions. According to AP technology, VPN browser extensions are effective in blocking ads and trackers.

Voidly employs AI to protect privacy grounded in these principles. A standalone Privacy Badger browser extension identifies and blocks tracking codes in conjunction with Voidly's adaptive VPN. Developers assert that their method utilizes anonymized connection performance data for assessment, rather than relying on browsing history. According to AP News, Privacy Badger and other blockers transmit “Do Not Track” signals and prevent intrusive scripts. Voidly offers a browsing experience without trackers by default.

These actions could disrupt the ad-tech industry. Linking user actions across sites becomes challenging without third-party cookies, fingerprinting, or digital beacons. Researchers from EFF caution that companies are increasingly utilizing browser configuration and hardware fingerprinting, rendering the elimination of third-party cookies ineffective. According to findings by Markup Blacklight, more than 5,000 prominent websites employ fingerprinting techniques to recognize users. To safeguard against cookie and fingerprint breaches, Voidly reroutes traffic and removes superfluous scripts, ensuring that users appear as random new visitors on every page. Conceal yourself from your surveillance network.

Voidly effectively blocks social media widgets and ad tracking. According to studies, advertisers and data brokers may install numerous scripts on news sites without visitors' knowledge. Voidly disables these connections, resulting in a less tailored, less private web experience. The EFF states that blocking tools safeguard your browsing history from corporations. Daily users embrace such precautions. This method stops unwanted advertisements and prevents Big Tech or data brokers from monitoring students' locations or browsing history on campus Wi-Fi or tablets.

Although it is still in its early stages, organizers anticipate expansion. Voidly's VPN and tracker-blocking ensure effortless privacy. A significant majority of Americans feel powerless over their data; however, an open-source, AI-assisted solution offers a way to reclaim online privacy. According to experts, data recovery is long overdue, and these innovative solutions can provide valuable assistance.

Learn more about the nonprofit privacy project, Voidly AI, here.