It’s been a fact of online life for a while now that your browsing habits are tracked. This data is then used to personalise the ads that appear, based on history and preferences.

The most common form of this is finding something that you’ve casually shopped for previously, show up as a ‘reminder’ advert in your Facebook feed.

Given the recent data scandals around Facebook, it’s not surprising that people have become increasingly concerned about what information they’re handing over, and where it’s being sold to.

The Apple Fightback

In their newest version of Safari, Apple announced that they’re combatting this tracking. They’re so serious about it, that they announced it from the stage at their WorldWide Developer Conference just last week.

Unusually, they called out Facebook in particular for their ‘like’ button — a key component in their omnipresent tracking. The implications for Google are just as serious, since they operate in similar ways. Both companies are heavily reliant on monetising data as part of their business model.

Prior to this, the Safari browser, like most others, would simply hand over the login token to whichever plugin was asking for it. Now there’s a specific popup when the request is made, alerting users that Facebook is requesting a cookie and the ability to track them with it. It will work even on third-party sites, where you might use ‘Login with Facebook’ in order to comment or share content.

Safari browsers will block the tracking attempts, meaning users should be able to get some privacy about their browsing back.

What Effect Will This Have On Analytics?

Theoretically, it could throttle the collection of user browsing data — at least from Mac/iOS and Safari users.

It wouldn’t be the tech industry if a bunch of similar tools don’t crop up to cover other platforms and devices. So expect Windows and Android versions, presumably working in Chrome, Firefox, and Opera.

The biggest impact will be in the number of users it removes from the data collection pool. Patterns and trends are most accurate when they’re based on the broadest spectrum of information.

That means the analytics provided by Facebook and Google will be incomplete and possibly inaccurate, with many users excluding themselves from having their data and behaviours tracked.

Will It Actually Work?

As surely as there will be imitators, there will also be workarounds. Whatever program or code Apple use to block the ‘like’ tracking functionality, can potentially be avoided or tricked in a variety of ways.

But that just serves to re-establish the existing analytics market, which as we’ve explored already, is a flawed one.

Why Decentralisation Will Work

The blockchain removes the facility for a couple of huge corporations to play gatekeeper to user data and analytics. It’s publicly shared over a number of nodes, in a transparent and tamper-proof system.

All of which serves to verify the quality of the data. With open access to it, users can run their own analytics, having the complete picture for once.

Users consent to how much of their data they’re sharing and where, secure in the knowledge it isn’t just being handed over to a third party to control or sell. In turn, publishers and promoters can be certain the data they’re collecting comes from real, individual users and not bots.

How MEDIA Protocol Builds On This

MEDIA Protocol allows content creators and promoters to track user behaviour, providing them with verifiable and valuable data.

The user is aware of exactly what data they’ve agreed to share, and it’s held in a transparent system. In exchange for allowing their data to be shared, the customers can earn MEDIA tokens (MPT) in return.

As the publishers get to know their customers, they can use those analytics to target them with specific discounts or bespoke services. This can transfer from online to offline easily enough — while the tokens are sent to the customer’s wallet as usual, they can sign that token and obtain a QR code to get an in-store discount from that company.

Customers can also use their tokens towards accessing paywalls or tipping content creators, granting them access to more content they’re interested in. The publishers aren’t throwing advertising money at a generic crowd, they’re able to find their target audience and draw them in directly.

There’s no need for blocks or barriers to tracking with this protocol, because the customers are aware of what they’re signing up to and how their data is being used. The analytics will be based on quality data, giving more accurate and targeted results.

Isn’t that a much better system?

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