A new algorithm allows us to control our visibility on the network

The URV researcher, Javier Parra-Arnau, shows the MyAdChoices extension that he has developed for Chrome./URV

A researcher at Rovira and Virgili University has created an algorithm and a web tracking model that allows users to control the activities that companies show on the Internet, and even participate in monetization of your browsing data, according to SINC. Pay-per-Tracking is the name of this web tracking model designed by Javier Parra-Arnau, researcher at the Department of Computer and Mathematical Engineering of this university and gives prominence to the user when it comes to show its activity on the Internet before companies that monitor users' browsing daily.

An algorithm to track digital life

There are companies, called data brokers , that are dedicated to tracking the digital life of Internet users from web browsing and comments and interactions on social networks, in order to know the type of users that are, their behaviors and tastes.

Given this scenario, an algorithm associated with the model developed in the URV provides a series of advantages to users who want to market their navigation data with these new companies.With Pay-per-Tracking, the Internet user can, on the one hand , control your privacy, since he decides the pages he will allow to be tracked, according to the thematic category under which they are classified.And on the other hand, the user can agree on the performance he wants to have of each of these categories.algorithm allows you to block access to companies that do not pay you and intend to continue tracking it.

transparency and control

Parra-Arnau has also developed a browser extension that provides transparency and control to users regarding the advertisements they receive while browsing.It is called MyAdChoices and aims to shed light on the question of how navigation data is used in the process of personalization of the ads.

In terms of control, MyAdChoices allows users to decide the theme of the banners and the types of ads that will be shown to them.The user can choose the theme of the ads that will impact them between 32 categories and thus configure and customize their profile of tastes and interests.In terms of transparency, the user can check what the Internet crawlers know or how they see them to know if they are receiving personalized ads or not.

Source: SINC Agency

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