Slashdot Mirror
Snowden Says It's Your Duty To Use an Ad Blocker (for Security)
AmiMoJo writes: In a long interview about reclaiming your privacy online, ex-NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden states that it's not just a good idea to use ad blocking software, it's your duty: "Everybody should be running adblock software, if only from a safety perspective. We've seen internet providers like Comcast, AT&T, or whoever it is, insert their own ads into your plaintext http connections. As long as service providers are serving ads with active content that require the use of JavaScript to display, that have some kind of active content like Flash embedded in it, anything that can be a vector for attack in your web browser — you should be actively trying to block these. Because if the service provider is not working to protect the sanctity of the relationship between reader and publisher, you have not just a right but a duty to take every effort to protect yourself in response." Other recommendations include encrypting your hard drive and using Tor to keep your internet use private.
running an adblocker is almost like running an antivirus...
Be or ben't
What do you care about what the people who want to show you ads think about your decision to block them?
Flash is a security hole, because Flash has always been a security hole, and it always will be a security hole -- I don't even have it enabled in any browser I control. Letting 10-20 external entities on a web site track you on every page is stupid (there's 10 on Slashdot as I type this, all of which I block). Letting any random website run javascript is also stupid, because you have no idea if you can trust them and all their partners.
If a website wants to serve its own ads, I probably won't go to great lengths to block them.
But double click, and score card research, and the literally dozens and dozens of other entities embedded into so many webpages ... those are entities I don't trust, don't have a voluntary relationship with, and do not benefit from being spied on.
Those I ruthlessly block with privacy extensions, or adding exclusions directly to my browser. Because it's all crap which wants to violate my privacy. Same goes for Facebook and Twitter -- sorry your business model says you want to track me on every site I go to. But I don't care.
So, boo hoo, say the site owners ... too bad say I. If your revenue involves selling my privacy for your gain, then I will not participate in your revenue. If you get to the point of outright stopping me, then I'll just block your entire site and not come back.
The fact of the matter is, we simply cannot trust the ad companies to vet the ads, or give a damn about our privacy and security. Which means we need to treat the ad companies as hostile entities and block the shit out of them.
The longer I run several privacy addons in all my browsers, the more I see on a daily basis how some sites can have 20+ external call-outs, none of which actually add any value to me. Which means I don't give a crap about them.
In fact, I will do everything I can to block them completely.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.