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#adtech

6 posts6 participants0 posts today
Replied in thread
Daragh Ó Briain

@OatPotato @devnull @borup EU law does not permit legitimate interest for or cookies. Unless cookie is necessary for the provision of the information society services being accessed, consent is the only valid legal basis under ePrivacy Directives.

#AdTech lobbyists tried to get it bolted into the ePrivacy Regulation but that died in the drafting stage.

Infoblox Threat Intel

After three years of relentless tracking, we’ve published a [paper](blogs.infoblox.com/threat-inte) that, for the first time, exposes the true identities behind VexTrio. This research connects real names to the various companies that form the VexTrio ecosystem. It begins with the origin story—how a group of Italians launched a successful spam and dating business. Over time, VexTrio expanded its operations into malicious adtech and online scams. For over a decade, the group employed deceptive tactics to defraud countless innocent internet users. These illegitimate gains funded the extravagant lifestyles of VexTrio’s key figures—who, despite increasing scrutiny, have yet to be fully stopped.

We’re deeply grateful to all the contributors who helped us reach this research milestone, especially @rmceoin and Tord from [Qurium](qurium.org/).

Infoblox Blog · VexTrio Unveiled: Inside the Notorious Scam EnterpriseWe expose adtech operators who partner with malware threat actors to commit digital fraud on a global scale through their affiliate advertising networks.
#dns#threatintel#threatintelligence
Continued thread
Open Risk

But a deep analysis of the economics, the challenges of collaborative hosting at different societal levels etc. is kinda moot.

The reason we have the current dystopia is that big #adtech managed to coopt, bribe or intimidate everybody that #dataprivacy does not matter.

Which is patently false and a dead-end even with the rules of current economics. You can't have a couple digital panopticons controlling the totality of society's information flows. Its an absurdity we should not rationalize.

Gytis Repečka

I subscribe to newspaper not because I prefer reading paper version - it is because ad tech and survelliance capitalism made internet unbearable, therefore I do not subscribe to any online one 📰

It is not ok to put tracking pixels, capture location and calculate where and for how long my screen is focused at. It's not ok to broker peronal private data to "target" more ads towards me. And it is definitely not ok to build browsers that are intended to maximize tracking with different initiatives tried to be pushed as "standards". Screw content algorithms that restricts me from reading full comment feed supposedly giving me only the "relevant" ones.

Big techs think they can ignore EU GDPR because, you know, they are bringing "innovation". Screw that. That is not innovation - that is unethical business that should be declared illegal :blobcatgooglytrash:

#adtech#tracking#web
Infoblox Threat Intel

Like CEOs at Coldplay concerts, we keep finding malicious adtech hiding behind well-known advertising brands. While these platforms may appear credible, they allow malicious actors access to their platform, and profit from their successes.

Our posts often focus on adtech operators because they are the ones who manage the infrastructure. But they are not the only ones profiting from this business. Affiliates play a big role by driving traffic (aka visitors) to the adtech platform (TDS).

Malicious affiliates do this by tricking visitors into clicking hidden links or manipulating pages to redirect them automatically. They are so good at it that they generate a profit just due to the sheer volume of traffic they drive into the platform.

Legitimate affiliates do this by posting what they believe to be normal ads on their web pages, tempted by promises of big rewards. Unfortunately for them, this is rarely the reality, and there are many reports of affiliates being underpaid or not paid at all. Additionally, affiliates risk damaging their own brand image – no one wants their legitimate website redirecting to malware, right?

As a user, regardless of how you find yourself diverted into a malicious TDS, if you happen to fit the profile then you face the risk of being sent to a malicious landing page. Scams, disinformation, malware…you name it.

As there are many players involved in this scheme, we’ve created an infographic that highlights who they are and how they fit into the malicious adtech landscape.

Have you come across any of these shady platforms or, worse, been lured into becoming part of the scheme? Let us know!

#dns#threatintel#threatintelligence
Miguel Afonso Caetano

"The Pay-or-Okay model adopted across the online news industry and platforms like Facebook and Instagram is “manipulative” and cannot be considered a free choice, a new report from the digital rights group noyb has found.

The report comes as the European Data Protection Board (EDPB), which oversees the implementation of privacy rules in the EU, is considering formal guidelines regarding the use of the model, also known as Consent-or-Pay.

Organizations like noyb, a Vienna, Austria-based non-profit, have long called on regulators to adopt a stricter approach to Pay-or-Okay, which they say violates the bloc’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

According to the group, Pay-or-Okay does not provide users a genuine choice to refuse tracking, as required by privacy rules, because the alternative is too expensive.

“Right now, users are effectively and unlawfully nudged towards ‘consenting’ to being tracked. The EDPB now has the opportunity to take a clear stance on this issue in its upcoming guidelines,” said Felix Mikolasch, data protection lawyer at noyb."

cybernews.com/privacy/pay-or-o

#EU#DataProtection#GDPR
Continued thread
Open Risk

The problem with that strategy is that its being crowded out by the enormous resources that #adtech has dedicated to further discover and exploit human weakness, #tiktok being the prime example.

The analogy is trying to free an enslaved drug addict by offering them a diet of fruits and veggies. Its clearly hopeless.

What could work is an invention that is at the same time wholesome for the individual and society *and* very attractive *and* doable on a miseable budget 🤦

Incredibly bad odds.

Continued thread
Open Risk

For the #fediverse and friends this raises some pretty stark challenges:

Clearly the promise of human-centricity, agency, #dataprivacy etc. does not resonate with the masses.

But importantly, it does not resonate with their appointed political stewards and assorted elites either: if not outright captured, they have made their Faustian bargains and are intensely relaxed about the #adtech dystopia.

Another potential wedge for disruption would be to offer something genuinely new...

eicker.news ᳇ tech news

#Netflix reported $11.08 billion in revenue for the second quarter, a 16% increase from the previous year. Netflix is focused on building its #adtech platform to double #advertising revenue this year and plans to introduce #interactiveads in the second half of 2025. theverge.com/news/709288/netfl #tech #media #news

The Verge · Netflix says it’s streamed 95 billion hours in 2025, and a lot of ads tooBy Emma Roth
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