A new independent audit says that Google, Meta, Microsoft are all still tracking users even after they opt out.

[josephcox@infosec.exchange]

A new independent audit says that Google, Meta, Microsoft are all still tracking users even after they opt out. 55 percent of the sites it checked set ad cookies in a user’s browser even if they opted out of tracking.

The company's all disputed it

Google, Microsoft, Meta All Tracking You Even When You Opt Out, According to an Independent Audit

“This is the Strait of Hormuz in the data economy. If you want to make a change, this is where you cut it off. Anything short of that is theatrical political posture.”

404 Media (www.404media.co)

[jerbear@kind.social]

@josephcox On the personal level: add this to the pile of reasons to use ad blockers that also reject these cookies

On the systemic level: Solving this requires meaningful consumer privacy protections at the federal level. I am one of many who would vote for a Congressional rep candidate who supported such protections

[haljor@sfba.social]

@josephcox Google should read their own response to Back Button Hijacking:

"Malicious practices create a mismatch between user expectations and the actual outcome, leading to a negative and deceptive user experience, or compromised user security or privacy."

When the user expectation is "do not track" but they track anyway, it's a malicious practice.

Google will begin punishing sites for back button hijacking in June

Google says it could penalize back button hijacking by demoting websites in search ranking.

Ars Technica (arstechnica.com)

[missgayle@urbanists.social]

@josephcox

That should not be surprising to anyone. They have no intention of changing their ways - not just because they make money, but also because they believe in the surveillance ideology.

The only winning move is not to play.