The NSA and CIA Use Ad Blockers Because Online Advertising is So Dangerous
DannyB writes:
The NSA and CIA Use Ad Blockers Because Online Advertising Is So Dangerous:
The Intelligence Community has deployed ad-blocking technology, according to a letter sent by Congress and shared with Motherboard.
Lots of people who use ad blockers say they do it to block malicious ads that can sometimes hack their devices or harvest sensitive information on them. It turns out, the NSA, CIA, and other agencies in the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) are also blocking ads potentially for the same sorts of reasons.
The IC, which also includes the parts of the FBI, DEA, and DHS, and various DoD elements, has deployed ad-blocking technology on a wide scale, according to a copy of a letter sent by Congress and shared with Motherboard.
[...] In addition, Motherboard has reported on how data brokers may obtain information via a process called real-time bidding. Before an advertisement is placed into a person's app or browsing session, companies bid on whether their own advert will win the ad spot. As part of that process, participating companies can gather data on people, known as bidstream data, even if they don't win the ad placement.
[...] "This information would be a goldmine for foreign intelligence services that could exploit it to inform and supercharge hacking, blackmail, and influence campaigns," the letter read.
If the preceding weren't bad enough, digital advertisers make bad tap dancers because they expect to be paid per click.
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