Priti Youssef Choksi’s Post

I'm excited to share some great news. The startup I joined less than 2 years ago, Anonym, has been acquired by Mozilla! I couldn’t be more excited to join Mozilla and work with the amazing teams there. Like Anonym, Mozilla believes that we need a free and open internet supported by digital advertising, and that digital advertising doesn’t need to compromise people’s privacy. You can learn more about the acquisition by reading Mozilla's blog post (https://lnkd.in/eVkbmzkb) and the AdExchanger article (https://lnkd.in/euckaKPR).

A really good point by Arielle Garcia in this story (read the whole thing) "Privacy-enhancing tech doesn’t make creepy and disruptive ads less creepy or disruptive in the eyes of the average user." Research presented at PrivacyCon says that "perceived privacy violations" for on-device systems that don't identify you individually are about the same as for conventional cookie-based tracking https://lnkd.in/gqA-bb5g That research is consistent with my experience answering end user questions about this stuff. People seem to be just as interested in turning off the new "privacy-preserving" ad features as the old-fashioned cookies—sometimes more. What I think is going on here is that, true, the new features don't identify you as an individual, but they still do some of the problem parts of "creepy" ads. A "privacy-preserving" ad system can still: * match scammers to likely victims * classify people into groups to enable price discrimination and other forms of discrimination

New: Firefox users have reported an "artificial" 5-second delay when they try to load YouTube videos that is magically fixed if they use Chrome, which has been going viral in a few different places. I asked Google what is going on. They 1) Didn't deny the artificial wait time is happening 2) Said it's part of its war on ad blockers, not targeted at Firefox Mozilla also told me no indication this is targeted at Firefox This explanation, I think, is actually crazier. Google is introducing quality of life problems to adblock users without telling them why their experience is getting worse. I think this is actually the bigger risk associated with YT's anti adblock campaign. Google is tinkering with things constantly, and rolling out different detection methods and making user experience worse in a haphazard way. People rightly then have no idea what's going on or why this has happened. This throttling story was on top of HackerNews, top of r/technology, top of r/youtube, top of r/firefox. People are very mad, and it's a result of constant tinkering that affects some people but not others. https://lnkd.in/g_KNYcE8

Nice callout to Advanced Contextual from Kendra at The Drum here: https://lnkd.in/e7U7mQEK I've been around long enough to remember when Netscape, then Internet Explorer, and lately Chrome became the most used browser. I can't imagine betting on a solution based on one browser.

I'm old enough to remember the days when Silicon Valley tech companies were exciting and innovative, and not just sad and dumb. Ad-supported business models just suck and are inherently user-hostile, how pathetic is it that a company with the size and influence of Google is reduced to this: "We've covered this already. But we haven't talked about the other side of the equation: Ad block rules can't be updated quickly anymore. Today, ad blockers and privacy apps can ship filter list updates themselves, often using giant open-source community lists. Manifest V3 will stop this by limiting what Google describes "remotely hosted code." All updates, even to benign things like a filtering list, will need to happen through full extension updates through the Chrome Web Store. They will all be subject to Chrome Web Store reviews process, and that comes with a significant time delay."

Advertising | Mozilla has acquired Anonym, a trailblazer in privacy-preserving digital #advertising. This strategic acquisition enables #Mozilla to help raise the bar for the advertising industry by ensuring user #privacy while delivering effective advertising solutions. The online advertising industry is undergoing a significant transformation. With growing consumer concerns and increasing scrutiny from regulators, it’s evident that current data practices are excessive and unsustainable. We are at the forefront of a pivotal shift in how privacy and advertising coexist, reshaping the digital landscape for advertisers, platforms, and consumers. Amidst this moment of change, Anonym stands out for its unique privacy-preserving technology. By securely combining encrypted data sets from platforms and advertisers, Anonym enables scalable, privacy-safe measurement and optimization of advertiser campaigns, thereby leading a shift toward a more sustainable advertising ecosystem.  Here’s how it works: ✅ Secure Environment: Data sets are matched in a highly secure environment, ensuring advertisers, publishers, and Anonym don’t access any user level data. ✅ Anonymized Analytics: The process results in anonymized insights and models, helping advertisers measure and improve campaign performance while safeguarding consumer privacy. ✅ Differential Privacy Algorithms: These algorithms add “noise” to the data, protecting it from being traced back to individual users. #Anonym was founded in 2022 by former Meta executives Brad Smallwood and Graham Mudd. The company was backed by Griffin Gaming Partners, Norwest Venture Partners, Heracles Capital as well as a number of strategic individual investors.

In an era where scams are not just lurking in dark corners but are parading in broad daylight, the tech giant is making a stand. You can read more about it here —> https://lnkd.in/d5dzUtg2 And to other tech companies out there, it's your move now. Will you follow suit and prioritise user safety? So, what are your thoughts on Google's new policy? Let's discuss below! 👇

I’m lucky to have had the opportunity to work at Anonym Inc., a privacy-enhancing-technology company that has been doing ground-breaking work on enabling secure analysis of customer data that minimizes privacy risks. Earlier this week, Mozilla announced its acquisition of Anonym (see link below), and Mozilla’s announcement outlines what makes Anonym special in the PETs world. I have the highest regard for Mozilla’s mission-driven enterprise, and, to be frank, think this is a match made in heaven. I should add that my tenure at Anonym gave me the chance to do some deep dives into the current state and future potential of PETs, and hardly a day goes by when I don’t apply some knowledge I acquired at Anonym in thinking about privacy—not least in the privacy questions raised by the acceleration of deployment of AI systems and features all around us. Here’s the Mozilla blog announcement of the acquisition: https://lnkd.in/eEha7dEu . I’ll note that while the announcement quite appropriately mentions use of Anonym tech in the context of digital advertising, there are many other use cases in which Anonym’s groundbreaking approach can reduce or potentially even eliminate common privacy risks. (Health-care data comes immediately to mind.)

OTHER SIDE OF THE EQUATION: Google is escalating its war on ad blockers. The coming "Manifest V3" update to Chrome is already planned to cripple adblock extensions. What Google has done now is to change the rules further so that updates to adblock filter rules have to go through the Chrome Web Store - and be approved by Google every time - instead of downloading directly from the adblock developer or a public repository. We recommend Brave and Vivaldi for the win.

#Chrome now directly tracks users, generates a "topic" list it shares with advertisers. Simply because #Google is an advertising agency, remember. You can turn it off: https://lnkd.in/eKZcreKJ But way better is switching to a different browser, like #Firefox. It is faster too, and a great experience. https://lnkd.in/egH7WUHM