Understanding the Privacy Implications of Adblock Plus’s Acceptable Ads
Understanding the Privacy Implications of Adblock Plus’s Acceptable Ads
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了解 Adblock Plus 可接受广告的隐私影响
DOI：
10.1145/3433210.3437536
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发表时间：
2021
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
Das, Anupam
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Zafar, Ahsan;Sabir, Aafaq;Ahmed, Dilawer;Das, Anupam
有针对性的广告在网络上很普遍。已经开发了许多隐私增强工具来阻止定向广告。AdBlock Plus就是这样一个流行的工具，每天有数百万用户使用它来屏蔽不想要的广告和追踪器。AdBlock Plus使用最著名和最广泛使用的开源过滤器EasyList和EasyPrivacy来拦截不想要的网络内容。然而，默认情况下，Adblock Plus还允许例外列表解除对符合可接受广告委员会定义的特定指导方针的Web请求的阻止。任何出版商都可以注册加入可接受的广告计划，以请求解除对网络内容的屏蔽。作为回报，AdBlock Plus向大型实体收取许可费，这些实体每月因参与可接受广告计划而获得大量广告印象。然而，默认包含例外列表对隐私的影响还没有得到很好的研究，特别是因为它不仅可以解锁广告，还可以解锁跟踪器(例如，解锁原本被EasyPrivacy屏蔽的内容)。在本文中，我们采用数据驱动的方法，通过访问Tranco列出的前10k个网站来收集对Adblock Plus例外列表和现实世界网络流量的历史更新。使用这些数据，我们不仅分析了例外列表在未被屏蔽的内容和加入可接受广告计划的合作伙伴/实体方面多年来是如何演变的，还分析了默认启用例外列表对隐私的影响。我们发现，谷歌不仅解锁了最多数量的独特域名，也解锁了最多数量的独特合作伙伴。从我们的流量分析中，我们看到，在最初被EasyPrivacy屏蔽的42,210个Google绑定的Web请求中，大约80%的此类请求被例外列表解锁。更令人担忧的是，许多请求都启用了1x1跟踪像素图像。因此，我们质疑默认情况下否定EasyPrivacy过滤规则的例外规则，并倡导更好的审查过程。
Targeted advertisement is prevalent on the Web. Many privacy-enhancing tools have been developed to thwart targeted advertisement. Adblock Plus is one such popular tool, used by millions of users on a daily basis, to block unwanted ads and trackers. Adblock Plus uses EasyList and EasyPrivacy, the most prominent and widely used open-source filters, to block unwanted web contents. However, Adblock Plus, by default, also enables an exception list to unblock web requests that comply with specific guidelines defined by the Acceptable Ads Committee. Any publisher can enroll into the Acceptable Ads initiative to request the unblocking of web contents. Adblock Plus in return charges a licensing fee from large entities, who gain a significant amount of ad impressions per month due to participation in the Acceptable Ads initiative. However, the privacy implications of the default inclusion of the exception list has not been well studied, especially as it can unblock not only ads, but also trackers (e.g., unblocking contents otherwise blocked by EasyPrivacy).In this paper, we take a data-driven approach, where we collect historical updates made to Adblock Plus's exception list and real-world web traffic by visiting the top 10k websites listed by Tranco. Using such data we analyze not only how the exception list has evolved over the years in terms of both contents unblocked and partners/entities enrolled into the Acceptable Ads initiative, but also the privacy implications of enabling the exception list by default. We found that Google not only unblocks the most number of unique domains, but is also unblocked by the most number of unique partners. From our traffic analysis, we see that of the 42,210 Google bound web requests, originally blocked by EasyPrivacy, around 80% of such requests are unblocked by the exception list. More worryingly, many of the requests enable 1-by-1 tracking pixel images. We, therefore, question exception rules that negate EasyPrivacy filtering rules by default and advocate for a better vetting process.