A new mechanism for displaying targeted ads has drawn criticism from privacy activists, who fear it could lead to unprecedented levels of user tracking.
There is virtually nothing you can do to protect your online privacy
Telecom giant Vodafone is testing a new advertising ID system in Germany, called TrustPid, that it claims will help it serve targeted ads. The new system is designed to be immune to Apple’s ban on user tracking, and will work even after Google revokes its advertising cookie. Vodafone claims it needs to do this to generate ad revenue and keep the internet free, while privacy advocates argue that tying the tracking to individual devices will allow Vodafone to collect very specific data about people.
“This is a huge violation of user confidentiality and the expectation of privacy,” Steven Harris, an open source intelligence (OSINT) specialist, told Lifewire via Twitter DMs. “The idea that this extremely sensitive data could be routinely made available to marketing and analytics companies should terrify anyone concerned about privacy.”
TrustPid means that Vodafone assigns a fixed ID to each customer and then links all their online activities to that ID.
