Wow, if you search for signal messenger on DuckDuckGo using Chrome, the actual @signalapp web site is the *third* entry following ads for “Signal Private Messenger – Free Download” that leads to the site appmaus.com and “Get Signal Messenger | Install Signal App” that leads to the site filelocations.com.

DuckDuckGo should be held criminally liable for anyone who ends up downloading malware because of this.

CC @Mer__edith

#DuckDuckGo #Signal #adtech #teachingPeopleHowToGetPhished #malware #security #privacy #BigTech

Wow, if you search for signal messenger on DuckDuckGo using Chrome, the actual @signalapp web site is the *third* entry following ads for “Signal Private Messenger – Free Download” that leads to the site appmaus.com and “Get Signal Messenger | Install Signal App” that leads to the site filelocations.com.

DuckDuckGo should be held criminally liable for anyone who ends up downloading malware because of this.

CC @Mer__edith

#DuckDuckGo #Signal #adtech #teachingPeopleHowToGetPhished #malware #security #privacy #BigTech

Wow, if you search for signal messenger on DuckDuckGo using Chrome, the actual @signalapp web site is the *third* entry following ads for “Signal Private Messenger – Free Download” that leads to the site appmaus.com and “Get Signal Messenger | Install Signal App” that leads to the site filelocations.com.

DuckDuckGo should be held criminally liable for anyone who ends up downloading malware because of this.

CC @Mer__edith

#DuckDuckGo #Signal #adtech #teachingPeopleHowToGetPhished #malware #security #privacy #BigTech

"Meta internally projected late last year that it would earn about 10% of its overall annual revenue – or $16 billion – from running advertising for scams and banned goods, internal company documents show.

A cache of previously unreported documents reviewed by Reuters also shows that the social-media giant for at least three years failed to identify and stop an avalanche of ads that exposed Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp’s billions of users to fraudulent e-commerce and investment schemes, illegal online casinos, and the sale of banned medical products.

On average, one December 2024 document notes, the company shows its platforms’ users an estimated 15 billion “higher risk” scam advertisements – those that show clear signs of being fraudulent – every day. Meta earns about $7 billion in annualized revenue from this category of scam ads each year, another late 2024 document states.

Much of the fraud came from marketers acting suspiciously enough to be flagged by Meta’s internal warning systems. But the company only bans advertisers if its automated systems predict the marketers are at least 95% certain to be committing fraud, the documents show."

https://www.reuters.com/investigations/meta-is-earning-fortune-deluge-fraudulent-ads-documents-show-2025-11-06/

#Meta #Facebook #Instagram #WhatsApp #Spam #AdTech #SocialMedia #OnlineScams #ScamAds

Meta earns $16B a year from targeted scam ads.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/11/bombshell-report-exposes-how-meta-relied-on-scam-ad-profits-to-fund-ai/

This is fine and normal.

#BigTech #Facebook #Instagram #WhatsApp #Meta #shutItDown #regulation #SurveillanceCapitalism #surveillance #capitalism #PeopleFarming #adtech

"Meta internally projected late last year that it would earn about 10% of its overall annual revenue – or $16 billion – from running advertising for scams and banned goods, internal company documents show.

A cache of previously unreported documents reviewed by Reuters also shows that the social-media giant for at least three years failed to identify and stop an avalanche of ads that exposed Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp’s billions of users to fraudulent e-commerce and investment schemes, illegal online casinos, and the sale of banned medical products.

On average, one December 2024 document notes, the company shows its platforms’ users an estimated 15 billion “higher risk” scam advertisements – those that show clear signs of being fraudulent – every day. Meta earns about $7 billion in annualized revenue from this category of scam ads each year, another late 2024 document states.

Much of the fraud came from marketers acting suspiciously enough to be flagged by Meta’s internal warning systems. But the company only bans advertisers if its automated systems predict the marketers are at least 95% certain to be committing fraud, the documents show."

https://www.reuters.com/investigations/meta-is-earning-fortune-deluge-fraudulent-ads-documents-show-2025-11-06/

#Meta #Facebook #Instagram #WhatsApp #Spam #AdTech #SocialMedia #OnlineScams #ScamAds

Meta earns $16B a year from targeted scam ads.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/11/bombshell-report-exposes-how-meta-relied-on-scam-ad-profits-to-fund-ai/

This is fine and normal.

#BigTech #Facebook #Instagram #WhatsApp #Meta #shutItDown #regulation #SurveillanceCapitalism #surveillance #capitalism #PeopleFarming #adtech

Cookie consent rules aren't the biggest barrier to privacy-preserving advertising technologies being widely used.

Ads without personal data are often blocked from being traded by intermediaries in the market.

So lowering regulation instead of enforcement isn't the answer to tackle intrusive tracking.

#adtech #privacy #dataprotection #ICO #ukpolitics #ukpol #advertising

Cookies feed the beast of targeted advertising 🍪

The Information Commissioner's Office (UK) wants the adtech industry to use less-invasive forms of tracking by exempting them from cookie consent rules.

But will this stop the privacy-be-damned trade in our data to feed us adverts?

Our roundtable had its say ⬇️

https://www.openrightsgroup.org/blog/the-future-of-cookie-consent-and-the-risks-of-relaxing-online-tracking/

#adtech #privacy #dataprotection #ICO #ukpolitics #ukpol #advertising

Cookie consent rules aren't the biggest barrier to privacy-preserving advertising technologies being widely used.

Ads without personal data are often blocked from being traded by intermediaries in the market.

So lowering regulation instead of enforcement isn't the answer to tackle intrusive tracking.

#adtech #privacy #dataprotection #ICO #ukpolitics #ukpol #advertising

Relaxing cookie consent rules is unlikely to leverage change in the adtech industry towards non-intrusive online tracking.

There must be:

⚫ More effective and dissuasive action by the ICO to remove illegal advertising.

⚫ Enforce data protection.

⚫ Protect law-abiding market players from the unfair competition of adtech companies who violate our privacy.

#adtech #privacy #dataprotection #ICO #ukpolitics #ukpol #advertising

Trying to nudge the adtech industry into more privacy-preserving models of online tracking by cutting our need to consent is flawed.

The Information Commissioner's Office (UK) is terrible at enforcing consent rules for adtech providers that run behavioural tracking as it stands.

So the ICO is offering a carrot with no stick 🤷‍♂️

#adtech #privacy #dataprotection #ICO #ukpolitics #ukpol #advertising

Cookies feed the beast of targeted advertising 🍪

The Information Commissioner's Office (UK) wants the adtech industry to use less-invasive forms of tracking by exempting them from cookie consent rules.

But will this stop the privacy-be-damned trade in our data to feed us adverts?

Our roundtable had its say ⬇️

https://www.openrightsgroup.org/blog/the-future-of-cookie-consent-and-the-risks-of-relaxing-online-tracking/

#adtech #privacy #dataprotection #ICO #ukpolitics #ukpol #advertising

Baked into cookies are what we do on any given site. Trackers can then make guesses about who we are and what we're interested in.

These behavioural profiles are then auctioned off to advertisers in real time.

And so ads for what you've just looked at start to haunt you through the Internet.

#adtech #privacy #dataprotection #ICO #ukpolitics #ukpol #advertising

Meta's new subscription service monetises our data rights 🏧

Thousands of people exercised their data protection rights and asked Meta to stop using their personal data for advertising.

Their response? Users must consent to the use of their personal data for targeted advertising, or cough up the dosh to opt out.

To respect our data rights, Meta must offer a tracking free version to implement this in a lawful way.

https://www.openrightsgroup.org/press-releases/meta-fails-to-respect-data-rights-with-consent-and-pay-scheme/

#meta #adtech #dataprotection #privacy #gdpr