Dive summary:
- Rachel Law, a 25-year-old graduate student from Singapore, has created "Vortex" a part game, part ad targeting disrupter that helps users turn their browsing profiles into fake identities with fantasy information.
- The tool works similar to previous ad blockers, but is visualized in the form of a game where users can gobble up site cookies, visualized as sea creatures, to create a pool of user information that has nothing to do with that particular users actual web behavior.
- As it sits Vortex still has security holes and could easily be used as a weapon which is why Law hasn't released it in beta form yet; the student says she has nothing against advertising, but believes data tracking has dangerous potential.
From the article:
"'I like to imagine in the future targeted advertising becomes a targeted choice for both advertisers and users," she said. 'For instance, if a user decides to go shoe-shopping for summer, he or she could equip their browser with the cookies most associated and aligned with shopping, shoes and summer ... users can choose what kind of advertisements they want to see.'
Vortex features a profile switcher that people can use and share to take on a new identity while browsing the web. 'It's a way of masking your identity across networks,' she said."
