New report from @brave: people seeking help for addiction, disability, and poverty on council websites are profiled by private companies in the UK. brave.com/ukcouncilrepor…
@brave JavaScript inventor and @brave's CEO @BrendanEich calls on Elizabeth Denham @ICOnews to finally act against RTB and adtech in his foreword. 
@brave @BrendanEich @ICOnews @simcd @IanCLucas @RaviNa1k @jimkillock @mikarv @jason_kint Our new report on how private companies surveil people seeking help for addiction, poverty, and disability is in The Guardian this morning. @sloumarsh has the story. theguardian.com/technology/202…
@brave @BrendanEich @ICOnews @simcd @IanCLucas @RaviNa1k @jimkillock @mikarv @jason_kint @sloumarsh Google's RTB system is active on 196 Council websites, broadcasting peoples data to 100s/1000s of companies when they visit their council to find information about things that are often sensitive, like health, disability, financial aid, etc.
@brave @BrendanEich @ICOnews @simcd @IanCLucas @RaviNa1k @jimkillock @mikarv @jason_kint @sloumarsh @OpenRightsGroup I found a small RTB company called "The Council Advertising Network". It's a header bidding firm, sharing people's data from 34 council sites with 22 companies, many of which then re-broadcast it to 100s/1000s.
@brave @BrendanEich @ICOnews @simcd @IanCLucas @RaviNa1k @jimkillock @mikarv @jason_kint @sloumarsh @OpenRightsGroup This is from the Council Advertising Network's media pack. CAN is a small operation. They are just trying to take a small slide of the Google and IAB "real-time bidding" cake. But this gives an insight in to how insidious this RTB stuff is.
@brave @BrendanEich @ICOnews @simcd @IanCLucas @RaviNa1k @jimkillock @mikarv @jason_kint @sloumarsh @OpenRightsGroup If you live in the red zone, your council is using RTB to make some money. It probably does not realise that your visits to its webpages are being broadcast to thousands of companies. By that is exactly what is happening.
@brave @BrendanEich @ICOnews @simcd @IanCLucas @RaviNa1k @jimkillock @mikarv @jason_kint @sloumarsh @OpenRightsGroup That map appears on page 8, with a timeline of @ICOnews' inaction. Two years+ after I blew the whistle, and 17 months after the @OpenRightsGroup @jimkillock @mikarv complaints that included @brave's evidence, we still await proper action from the ICO.
@brave @BrendanEich @ICOnews @simcd @IanCLucas @RaviNa1k @jimkillock @mikarv @jason_kint @sloumarsh @OpenRightsGroup Credit to @tim_libert for webxray, which he makes available free of charge. Hero!
@brave @BrendanEich @ICOnews @simcd @IanCLucas @RaviNa1k @jimkillock @mikarv @jason_kint @sloumarsh @OpenRightsGroup @tim_libert Data brokers build dossiers of information about people in order to sell information about them. 23 councils allow data brokers to load when a person visits the page, which means the broker can learn that that person is visiting that page. Big questions to be asked here.
@brave @BrendanEich @ICOnews @simcd @IanCLucas @RaviNa1k @jimkillock @mikarv @jason_kint @sloumarsh @OpenRightsGroup @tim_libert Kudos to @privacyint for their work on some of these companies. privacyinternational.org/advocacy/2426/… and to @Bendineliot who pointed me to webxray.
@brave @BrendanEich @ICOnews @simcd @IanCLucas @RaviNa1k @jimkillock @mikarv @jason_kint @sloumarsh @OpenRightsGroup @tim_libert @privacyint @Bendineliot Data brokers sometimes get their data in funny ways, as the report shows on page 10. Seemingly inoffensive like and share buttons (like @addthis) pass data on to data brokers.
@brave @BrendanEich @ICOnews @simcd @IanCLucas @RaviNa1k @jimkillock @mikarv @jason_kint @sloumarsh @OpenRightsGroup @tim_libert @privacyint @Bendineliot @addthis The website owner installs these buttons because they are free, and might help other people to find out about their site. But the company providing the buttons is selling the website owner's audience under the table.
@brave @BrendanEich @ICOnews @simcd @IanCLucas @RaviNa1k @jimkillock @mikarv @jason_kint @sloumarsh @OpenRightsGroup @tim_libert @privacyint @Bendineliot @addthis Buttons to Like, Share, Tweet, etc. report back to their own companies. 89 councils use Tweet buttons, 52 use Facebook buttons, 23 have various Google embeds, and all of these allow these companies to know that what a person is doing on a council site.
@brave @BrendanEich @ICOnews @simcd @IanCLucas @RaviNa1k @jimkillock @mikarv @jason_kint @sloumarsh @OpenRightsGroup @tim_libert @privacyint @Bendineliot @addthis The data trail is astounding. The part I worry about most is "real-time bidding". It broadcasts what people are doing on these sites to 100s/1000s of companies, continuously. This is why we have pressed for action against. See our evidence on RTB at brave.com/rtb-evidence/
@brave @BrendanEich @ICOnews @simcd @IanCLucas @RaviNa1k @jimkillock @mikarv @jason_kint @sloumarsh @OpenRightsGroup @tim_libert @privacyint @Bendineliot @addthis Here are local and unitary councils across the UK. Very few areas with zero tracking (bright green).
@brave @BrendanEich @ICOnews @simcd @IanCLucas @RaviNa1k @jimkillock @mikarv @jason_kint @sloumarsh @OpenRightsGroup @tim_libert @privacyint @Bendineliot @addthis The picture for English non-metropolitan county councils is also bad.
