It would be enough to share 30 links on Facebook and Twitter to know the exact identity of the person who made a certain internet search
A new study reveals something that was already in the air for quite some time and that in some ways scares a little. According to a research carried out by Stanford and Princeton Universities, advertisers could also know the identity of the user.
Browsers, normally, should keep anonymous the data collected through cookies, tools that allow to trace the profile of the user and characterize his experience on the internet. Advertisers, however, should never have to know who is behind a given web search. In theory. In practice, however, according to the results of the survey, it is not so. Basterebbe infatti condividere 30 link su Facebook e Twitter per scoprire esattamente l’identità della persona che ha effettuato una determinata ricerca su internet. In che modo? Incrociando la web history degli utenti con i dati pubblicati sui social.
Lo studio
Fonte foto: Shutterstock
Premi sull’immagine per scoprire come proteggere la propria privacy online seguendo i consigli degli esperti
La scoperta è stata possibile, come visto, grazie allo studio dei ricercatori delle due università, i quali hanno preso in esame il comportamento online di 374 volontari. Con percentuali molto alte, che in alcuni casi hanno raggiunto anche il 70%, gli scienziati sono stati in grado di individuare i partecipanti analizzando esclusivamente i loro browser e confrontandoli con i loro profili social. This, therefore, means that it is almost impossible to hide on the web, despite the efforts. In fact, with just a few clicks, anyone can get to know a user's first and last name. And the world of advertising in this way could take advantage of it and further customize the type of advertisements based, not on the habits of users, but on their identities.
How to protect yourself
To prevent, as much as possible, that someone knows, as someone would say, life, works and miracles, you can put into practice some actions. One solution might be to use the DuckDuck Go search engine which, for example, does not use cookies to track you for commercial purposes. Then you can also decide to change browsers: Tor, according to some cybersecurity experts, seems to be one of the safest. And in the most extreme cases you can also use a VPN.