Robin Berjontweets archive

February 2022

302 tweets

Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @NeilKNet

This assumes no bitrot, no security issues, no legal issues... These things tend to matter more as popularity scales. I'm not saying it's impossible, I'm just pointing out that there's a lot less magic than people seem to assume.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @null and @paulduplantis

What I mean by viability is simply persistence of the service. Things don't just keep working without labour.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @therealbhalla and @Chronotope

Not all countries have those expectations 😁
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @jason_kint and @aoifewhite101

Has anyone verified that those unnamable companies actually exist? Whenever I talk with someone in adtech or a publisher, they're not in MOW and they don't know anyone who is. It's starting to feel a lot like a sockmuppet organisation staffed with girlfriends from Canada.
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Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @jyasskin

They're using win, win, win tokenomics too!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
"But technology is neutral!" might be one of the most annoying tropes for those of us who work in tech. I'm really looking forward to this!
Quoting a tweet by @hare_brain ↗
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Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
Yeeeessssssss.
Quoting a tweet by @Klonick ↗
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Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @kkomaitis

Konstantinos…
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
I've always laughed at the (frequent) suggestion that @m4aow is a plant from Google or Facebook to make antitrust look bad, but the more time passes the more credible it sounds. I still think it's a conspiracy theory, but the effect is real all the same!
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Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @gsnedders and @m4aow

Oh I know — but supposedly there are also plenty of adtech and publisher members in there who are concealing their identity because they are afraid to speak the TRUTH! Except no one's ever met one. So much useless yapping when we have so much real work to do…
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @gsnedders and @AmeliasBrain

That would be a coherent position, but so far I've read nothing from them I've found coherent — all they do is change the subject every time points out they don't make sense. As far as I can tell the argument is "I don't like it, therefore it must be anticompetitive."
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @swodinsky

Noooooooooooooo...
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @Chronotope and @swodinsky, @fka_tabs, @ShortFormErnie, @mayverywellbe, @autiomaa

Wow, people use the Dock? Why? Anyway, I think you've earned the right mock mine :-D
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @Chronotope and @swodinsky, @fka_tabs, @ShortFormErnie, @mayverywellbe, @autiomaa

I didn't actually pick that, I was just too lazy to change it after the update pushed it out. I never see my desktop anyway. Well, Thunderbird *does* have a habit of dumping attachments in random places but I'm not commenting on whether I get Random Thunder or not ;)
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
Joyeuse Chandeleur à tous!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @trekonomics

Russia got battered by Covid and it was starting to show?
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @julien51

I'm here all week!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @kkomaitis

I'm not sure that the metric is really meaningful, but at the same time if you consider how incredibly long it took to get to eukaryotes and multicellular life and how recently we parted ways from chimps or bananas, it's less surprising!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @alextcone and @Ryanbarwick

I only deal in life-of-the-party data.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @cwilso

Ow.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @RodChristiansen and @othermaciej, @daringfireball, @adactio

One way to see it is that with all the Google account, automatic login, or cleartext Sync stuff Chrome is more like an in-app WebView for Google than a browser. On mobile, G are pushing people into the "Google" app where it really is that. I've been wondering when they'll merge.
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Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @kkomaitis

Maybe I'm bad at it but I've never managed to cook food with hierarchy.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @kkomaitis

There's a lot to dig into here, but as a quick note: I don't think that sovereignty requires shunning cooperation. Sure, you have to give some sovereignty over to the process, but if the process is fair, it protects you from losing more.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @GLadvie and @etienne_cdl

Joli!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @kkomaitis

I think the problem is that for that to happen, you have to trust that others will play by similar rules. The US's total lack of antitrust enforcement and data protection over the past decades are basically equivalent to illegal subsidies under WTO expectations.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
Sharing an open Internet with a rogue actor like that is like opening up trade with a country that ignores all safety and ecological rules, and subsidises national champions. You can't win.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
We should have a principle of no interoperability without institutions to support capture-resistance. Something like that!

Thread of 3 tweets

Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
Hey, do you care about #a11y and coding cool interactive journalism? @nytimes is hiring a journalist who can code to help make our visual and interactive experiences more accessible. nytimes.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/NYT/job/New-Yo…
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Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
What people are missing in the debate about "Zero-Party Data" is that "Second-Party Data" is already nonsense. The "third" in third-party isn't from counting 1,2,3… it just designates any party other than the two primarily involved in a relationship.
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Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
That's how you also get nonsense like the people who contend that third parties should have equal access to data. They are by definition subsidiary and external to the primary, direct relationship between a person and a site. That's what the name means.
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Thread of 2 tweets

Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @humanpropensity

Oh, to be clear: I do think that there are useful distinctions to make between the various ways in which data is shared. 2PD is often just an audience overlap, with no reuse, etc. — that's typically safer than 3PD. In that sense, 0PD is *also* a useful distinction.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
Data that people give you on purpose to do a clear thing with is ethically better than data you observe, even 1P. I think that's what @fatemehx2 meant and if so I agree. I was just pointing out that the *naming* of 0PD didn't make the situation any worse than it already was!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
In fact, "first party" is already dodgy. Then "second party" threw all logic to the wind. After that, "zero party" isn't a worse name, it just fits into a convention that marketers feel makes sense even if it comes from an initial error!

Thread of 3 tweets

Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @humanpropensity

Haha, that's true! I think there is a real ontology in there (with caveats) though.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @RobertJBateman and @humanpropensity

Right, that's what lawyers meant. What marketers did next will astound you!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @humanpropensity and @fatemehx2

I'm not entirely sure I understand but it's a very nice hill!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @humanpropensity and @fatemehx2

I don't think it's arbitrary. When people "consent" to permanently sharing their browsing history, we all know they don't understand what they're consenting to, and mostly wouldn't if they did. When they reply to "Can we have your age range to target ads on here," they do.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @swodinsky and @nytimes

If you do it accessibly it's a great start!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @humanpropensity and @fatemehx2

People could have agency, and sometimes they do — but I have yet to see a case involved third parties in which they did!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @fatemehx2 and @humanpropensity

Zeroth party is definitely *not* about tracking, it can never be about tracking :)
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @humanpropensity

s/Term// :)
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @humanpropensity and @fatemehx2

I would tend to think not, because you've made it opaque.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @humanpropensity and @fatemehx2

Sure — forgetting about the UI this is about the properties of the interaction. But consent is really about nothing else than properties of an interaction :)
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
TFW you hope a celebrity isn't dead.
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Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
It's all an act because, sadly, much of it is just regulation theatre.
Quoting a tweet by @ka_iwanska ↗
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Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @alextcone and @RobertJBateman, @johnnyryan

I would love to see a lawyer assess if those arguments extend to the IETF and third-party cookies, for instance. (This may be a hint.)
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
No one's worried about the TCF because anyway there's SWAN!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @alextcone and @RobertJBateman, @johnnyryan

I'm mostly interested in figuring out what the limits are for this legal theory. It's a real concern: all protocols potentially have the problem, depending on how it's framed.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
No. nyti.ms/3HrTxY7
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @ariezrawaldman

Still around (MySpace is still around) but a lot less significant. One of their weaknesses compared to the other monsters is that they are less invested in infrastructure. (Except FreeBasics but that has a sell-by date IMHO.) They're less hard to crash.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @rcalo

In both cases you are designing a token to be miscategorised by an automated system. With the penny, the mechanism has properties (determinism, simplicity, transparency) such that we can accept it as a proxy for purchase from a human - which is then breached.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
For the algorithm, well it depends on the algorithm (the cigarette box being one too). If it's explicitly string matching to filter only for Harvard people, then that's like direct résumé screening - so more like lying. If it's tricking an ML model and they don't know what...
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
...they're looking for, then it's a lot less clear. Can you lie to someone who doesn't know what question they're asking? (Disclaimer: I once got a job by passing a coding test with flying colours because I figured out how the answers were encoded in the page ;)

Thread of 3 tweets

Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @iamameliacarter

You don't want to know!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @akmassey and @rcalo

That's more like a lead disc with an engraving that says "this is not a penny." You're still deliberately tricking a simple proxy for a person. In your case I would say even if the text isn't white on white!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @null and @ZombiePaisible

Déjà, même en grosses coupures, imagine la taille de la poche.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
Not to be old, but frankly this was a much, much better experience than every single digital interface to find movies nearby that I've seen in the past three decades.
Quoting a tweet by @histoftech ↗
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @null and @ZombiePaisible

- Zuckinou, tu as tes clefs? - Meeeerrde, je crois qu'elles sont au fond de ma poche...
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @null and @benharnett

Oh, I never did that, maybe it didn't exist there or maybe I'm terrible with phones anyway!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @null and @HelloFillip, @benharnett

Not unfamiliar!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @null and @MadronaCitizen

Ce film!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @akmassey and @rcalo

That's an interesting line of reasoning — but I don't think you need agency to be tricked! The mechanism is being tricked, even if of course it's the designer who is cheated. I think that mechanism quality should matter to the designer/deployer's moral right wrt cheating.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
If you protect your diary with a tiny padlock, it might not be prudent but your intent is still clear if I open it with a hairpin. If you protect it with a Rube Goldberg machine, maybe you meant for me to read it, who can tell?

Thread of 2 tweets

Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @swan_community and @iamameliacarter

As you can see, @iamameliacarter, SWAN is basically a blend of AdChoices and the TCF. It purports to prevent monopolies by doubling-down on the approach that gave us monopolies in the first place. Even the comms focus is reheated.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to an earlier tweet of mine

Google's blog post doesn't start off very well. "Transparency and control" sounds great, but it's what companies say when they don't want privacy. It means "we know we're doing things you won't like, that we've set a default you don't want, and that most of you won't change it."
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Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @akmassey and @rcalo

Tricking is the inducement of false beliefs. You don't need agency, the most rudimentary information processing suffices. (To be clear: I'm not ascribing rights to the mechanism or any such nonsense.)
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
The way I read @rcalo's question (which might be off) was whether there are properties of the mechanism that make one trick OK & not the other. There might not be! In that case it's the same either way and we should get used to it like speeding trains & not stealing electricity.

Thread of 2 tweets

Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @akmassey and @rcalo

I'm neither a philosopher nor a computer scientist, just a random guy on Twitter. I'm just looking at belief as an internal state that reflects a specific external reality ("this was paid for", "Robin went to Harvard").
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
I'm instrumentally interested in this view because if you remove the mechanism and trick the person, the situation is pretty straightforward. But if the mechanism is relevant, then how the mechanism is tricked could be the relevant part.

Thread of 2 tweets

Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @BrettFrischmann

Ha, just did the same 😁
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @fatemehx2 and @tinyintern, @danidonovan

Oh yeah, my phone timer is wonderfully useful after I've pulled the box out of the trash!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @null and @benlikestocode

Oh, they did call them that. I once made that joke in front of a hole working group, not on purpose. Not everyone was amused!
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Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
WE DEMAND TO KNOW.
Quoting a tweet by @LAM_Barrett ↗
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Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @susanthesquark

It's amazing. Endymion is fine, but a lot less so.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @RobertJBateman and @fatemehx2, @TIDAL

Too early for CPRA, but I really wouldn't wait for GPC.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @RobertJBateman and @fatemehx2, @TIDAL

Oh, yeah, heads are pretty bad places to keep information in!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @kkomaitis

My read is that they're using this as signalling to get US diplomacy to step in.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @montezumachavez

Ha! Famous!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @RDBinns

In cream or green?
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @Erie

Adopted.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @BrettFrischmann

Hey @tobie, I think this is relevant to your work.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
My 8yo is class representative and she undertook a lengthy negotiation with the school director today, but she somehow failed to convey my legitimate demand that free candy be regularly distributed to parents. What infamy is this?
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Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @kkomaitis

WTF is a "Brexit Opportunity"? Rejoining?
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @null and @TrialByTruth, @kkomaitis

My experience is that the production of a white paper is not a reliable indication that something actually exists :)
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @mccanner

Seriously, though, I want that to be real!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
Yet another bold move from Facebook public policy. Having spent twenty years running or working for small businesses, I'm really glad to know these people have our backs.
Quoting a tweet by @googlepubpolicy ↗
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Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @mutacious

That would be the joke, yes.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @mutacious

I know, I'm trying to remember the muscle for levity!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @jason_kint

That's the joke, Jason 😁
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @BuggeErik and @jason_kint

That's the second joke! Maybe I shouldn't make jokes.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @mtomweb

But you won't be able to use Google Maps, they say!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
This seems funny - sites that use adtech don't understand it! - but it's a big part of why the system is so hard to change: people are scared of tinkering with what they don't understand because they can't tell what change will bring. t.co/Yq02jU9Tpy
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Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
Forget privacy, the system is worth reforming on opacity, fraud, and inefficiency alone. Most studies of adtech economics, even the few that don't have industry conflicts, have methodological gaps that you could drive a supertanker through.
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Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
I don't know of many industries in which you can funnel hundreds of billions through a system yet have no traceability whatsoever. It would be comical if it weren't a key piece of democratic infrastructure.
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Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
It should be a key tenet of any reform of advertising that we get full farm to table transparency down to the auction and impression label. It might reveal marketing strategies, but the trade-off is worth it.
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Thread of 4 tweets

Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @null and @LibSkrat

Well there is that, but even without it, imagine the situation: 98% of your revenue comes from a thing, you don't understand it, and someone wants to change it. That's terrifying.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @jkohlmann

One of the first vendors to annoy me at The Times was pitching GDPR on the blockchain 🤣
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @profcarroll

Absolutely! And the benefits would accrue to people, buyers, sellers, and the honest intermediaries.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @null and @LibSkrat

I know, but it's not as straightforward a case. Not everyone has our audience and 1P capabilities, or direct business to start with. Programmatic is a great idea, it's just done wrong.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @davidmihm__ and @davidmihm

I wonder if someone has considered automating emails from SMBs to Google, see how popular they are there 😁
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @mblumenthal and @davidmihm

Hahaha, that's brilliant.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @publictorsten and @Chronotope

The publisher already has that personal data (assuming the networks stop transacting in it). Attaching the full revenue and bid breakdown to an impression does not make this worse.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @miltonmueller

I think that's a hell of a lot of strawman to read into my tweet.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @miltonmueller

Hmmm, no. 1) I can think of a bunch of things that Google could easily do if they cared about SMBs — but don't. Trying to mobilise SMBs to defend G's business is hypocritical and unoriginal irrespective of whether the SMBs' businesses would be affected.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
2) I don't owe you any "substance" or whatever it is that you got in a twist about. You came at me with an inane level of strawman for no reason whatsoever. Your aggression is just that: uncalled for aggression. I don't owe you anything.

Thread of 2 tweets

Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @miltonmueller

I did in fact re-read it to make sure that I wasn't imagining it and because I think it's worth giving people the benefit of the doubt. But, yeah, it's pretty hard to see it as anything other than someone trying to pick a fight from something they made up their head.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @wayneblodwell

And mechanics, yes.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @BettyBowers and @AccountableGOP, @RepMTG

Proof that crime doesn't paella.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
If, in your tab system, the sequences (cmd-T, cmd-W) and (cmd-W, cmd-shift-T) aren't idempotent, you're doing tabs wrong. Yes, I will die on this hill.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
It's amazing how much reading your can get done if you can qualify it as research that justifies putting off writing.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @fborgesius

I've decided that I should feel insulted whenever someone says "it's amazing how much you read!"
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @anthonykatsur and @Daniel__Elad, @AdtechGod

Well, the only answer to that that fits in a tweet is "whoa, Tony, that's a really fucking hard problem!" :) Perhaps more helpfully: I 100% believe that we can do better, but the trade-offs might not be palatable to all.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
I don't think that there is a solution in which we distribute data the way it's done today that works. The key to avoiding consent nonsense but maintaining a lot of players (which should be good!) resides in changing what kind of data they get.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
That's what I like about the PARAKEET approach: it makes strong guarantees about how it restricts the data but then it basically plugs into RTB. I'm not saying it's the ultimate best option, but I think that it would be interesting to dig into options there.

Thread of 3 tweets

Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @humanpropensity

I need one of those, seriously.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @anthonykatsur and @Daniel__Elad, @AdtechGod, @IABTechLab

A trusted server opens interesting doors. I'd be curious to hear how much change people would be up for.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @humanpropensity and @anthonykatsur, @Daniel__Elad, @AdtechGod

Hey, things are changing!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @mnot

Yes, reading a paper should be an event!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @kkomaitis

I'm pretty sure that's legit!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @mnot and @jyasskin

I haven't read the full paper, but based on this thread I wonder if it wouldn't help frame the safety discussion?
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @footePGH

We don't throw enough bricks at this regime.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @null and @pixeldetracking

"The pillars of privacy are transparency and user control." Sigh.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @null and @pixeldetracking

I think there are significant parts of the industry that are evolving. The bet I'd make is that this is a good predictor of who will still be around five years from now. Those who get privacy have a future, the "transparency & choice" people will be gone.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @jyasskin and @mnot

Sure — in my mind, it doesn't make sense to develop principles that would apply to one and not the other. The mechanisms to balance power might have to differ, but that's a separate question.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @null and @pixeldetracking

You might even say that... there's reason for hops.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @NSQE

As someone who has to rely on the work of privacy lawyers A LOT, please know that the work of privacy lawyers who actually care about privacy is very much valued! My team and a huge number of others in the business would rave about ours. We cried when she left.

Thread of 2 tweets

Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @NSQE

I think she likes drinks better than a pat on the head, but I'm fine with either 😁
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @Chronotope

Great job on the chairing!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @Chronotope

Wait - I thought we solved everything?
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
That sinking feeling when you're in the mood for sci-fi but all that's left is one of those Star Wars things.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @gpxl_

This looks cool indeed! Thank you, you may have saved me from reheated boredom.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @jyasskin and @mnot

I think we share the same concerns, but I think the principles can be used to ground accountability also for those who don't choose them.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @simevidas

Thank you! Wow, that one looks stressful!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @Caffar3Cristina and @johnnyryan

Only in the next six months?😁
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @kkomaitis

MySpace still has very real traffic!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @kkomaitis

We need more places where people can be bad at web design. That's what makes this good!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @julien51

Why would anyone prefer apples? Is it a known taste bud deficiency?
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
"First of all, no valid environmental policy can be carried out if it is not part of a global socialist project based on the reduction of inequalities, the permanent circulation of power and property and the redefinition of economic indicators."
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Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
"When you own nothing, you have to accept everything" This is also the dynamic that any reform of tech must address. If the web is indeed "for everyone," then all of its necessary infrastructure must be under collective governance.
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Read the whole thread: 7 tweets →

Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @ViliLe

Agreed on both counts, with the small difference that the platforms have grown to be much more than domain-specific. They also tend to hegemony, which is a big problem. But yes, trying to find structures to democratise is basically what I'm doing.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @julien51

Yes and no. I'm keeping an eye on the work there on institution design, there are promising things here and there but I haven't yet been knocked out of my socks. And so far my own institutional work hasn't needed a chain. We'll see!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @julien51

Haha. No. I don't think that I've seen good collective governance at scale in tech. You can see good, collective, scale but not all three (and often much less) I think? That's the point of working on it!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
Given the persistence of defaults, selling the default search is selling your users. No browser should do that, not even if the search engine is in the same corporate portfolio.
Quoting a tweet by @thezedwards ↗
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Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @varlogsimon

That's a great question and it's key to the solution. Indeed, I don't think it matters if Apple loses $15bn a year, but it sucks a whole lot if Firefox can't get paid. So we can't just force choice: we need a plan. Complex for Twitter, but...
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Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
Paying browsers from search revenue makes sense: the products are complementary (in fact search would be better if browsers controlled the UI). But instead of paying for the default, it's rev share per hit.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
Both browsers and search engines enter a registry, which they can only do by agreeing to specific terms. Browsers not in registry can't be paid; engines not in registry can't appear in the list of proposed engines in the choice dialog offered by the browser.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
The choice dialog has to be designed independently and standardised. It needs to feature some info that people can't easily note from usage, notably about privacy. I think that's the tldr, there are details to sort out from that of course (lots).

Thread of 4 tweets

Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @varlogsimon

It will, whenever I can turn a pile of notes into something vaguely coherent!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @RobertJBateman and @varlogsimon

And, crucially, allow sorting/filtering based on "nutrition."
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @parkerj50 and @PikettyLeMonde, @anabmap

That's part of what he says.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @parkerj50 and @PikettyLeMonde, @anabmap

I agree that it's possible to do better. Do you disagree that covering reparations, Haiti, and knowledge of economic activity in West Africa is at least a promising start?
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @mnot and @briankardell, @Sawtaytoes, @ChromiumDev

I don't think we can blame the persistence of UA string parsing on browser vendors. I wish we could lock at 99 and move up the UA-CH schedule to match.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @salome_viljoen_

But how can you solve a problem without private property, @salome_viljoen_?
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @kkomaitis

Is there a version minus the China scaremongering?
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @swodinsky

You can smell the bullshit from just how many times they had to bring up fear of China to make a point.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
Do you have a vision for the future of advertising and want to come build the next innovation on the publisher side, with a privacy-first mindset and in the middle of industry upheaval? Apply here 👇! nytimes.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/NYT/job/…
↺ 8
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @JeniT

Muahahaha.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @Iwillleavenow

That's fair, though I can think of a number of cases in which regs create hard requirements that don't help with privacy.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @JeniT

😁
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @mikarv and @gwbstr, @nytimes, @Twitter

In-app browsers should be illegal. They're not about tracking the link, they're about tracking what happens on someone else's site. I shudder to think about what a privacy researcher would find there...
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @bigblackjacobin

Mostly true, yes, and it's also making the city car-free only for the rich. Nevertheless, there's still a lot of traffic and it's better than nothing. Once it starts, it can grow.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @wireless_pen and @bigblackjacobin

Correct.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @janl

Oooh, we should do more of these.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
Your move, New York.
Quoting a tweet by @grescoe ↗
↺ 1
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @null and @MadronaCitizen

I don't think there's an area of intramuros Paris that's under €12k/m², so it's not like real estate in the rest of the city is anywhere near affordable… I don't want to dump on this because it's a move in the right direction, but it's anyway far short of a just Paris!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @null and @MadronaCitizen

Merge Paris into a single city covering the ~7m who actually live in the conurbation and not just the richest few in the dead centre moated by the périphérique. You won't get change so long as power and money are allowed to overlap.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @can

Cmd-shift-g to type in the path (and it autocompletes)!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
Hey InfoSec Twitter: what's the best, relatively short, textual, and rigorous intro to/description of infosec that you would recommend for an audience of smart but not necessarily technical people? Thanks!
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Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @alextcone and @tsudo

If there's shorter than a book I would appreciate as I'll have to summarise it. But I love the CIA framing, it's clear and helpful!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @null and @MadronaCitizen

Same!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @alextcone and @tsudo

Hahahaha, not dismissed but you're right that I need thinking material — thanks for the connection :)
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @tsudo and @alextcone

Not at all, thanks a lot, you've already given me something I can use. If there's a paper about the CIA framing that's wonderful but I'm already thankful!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @tsudo and @alextcone, @Grubbslinger

This looks neat *and* has a reasonably priced ebook — that's perfect, thank you!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @idonibrasco

Thank you!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
Yup. (ht @rubin) vox.com/policy-and-pol…
↺ 4
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @JProkap and @AccidentalCISO

Thanks, that's helpful. Not all nontech audiences zone out on details!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @InfosecHolic

That wouldn't be the worst idea 😁
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @InfosecHolic and @idonibrasco

Don't use SciHub, that would be bad.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @JProkap and @AccidentalCISO

That's fair — and it applies to way, way more than just security. But in this case I am looking for ways to show that an area that we don't usually consider to be security (antitrust) has, from the purely tech viewpoint, a lot in common with security. So I reckon it works!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @null and @benharnett

OK, it's a wonderful list but I have to admit this one cannot fail to catch the eye!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @null and @benharnett

Just the cover!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @slayser8

Having lived in both, I would dispute that. If you look not just at the dead centre of Paris with its super dense coverage but as the whole conurbation, NYC arguably has a better (and definitely more egalitarian) subway.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @slayser8

Yeah, and it's great for that! But it's basically like putting all of the MTA's subways just inside of Manhattan and having everything else served just by the LIRR and Metro North.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
No matter what eventually ends up being in the Android Sandbox, I'm willing to bet that it'll protect people against everyone except Google, just like Chrome. zdnet.com/article/google…
↺ 17
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @null and @KristenPadavic, @NicWillMoe, @rubin

I know so many people in that situation. Meanwhile, companies have piles of jobs they can't fill, and some pretty good roles too. It's maddening.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @jason_kint and @slayser8

I'm less familiar, but I think so.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @JeniT and @Bari10, @Sagaraghosa, @KatxBea, @JezPete

Ha! Yeah that's true. All I can say is that we do it massively less than anyone else and that we're working to make it possible to not do that. But it's a long trek!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @mnot and @julie17usc

The problem with the current data protection regimes is that the boundaries they enforce are designed to protect data processors over people 😑
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @rajiinio and @RDBinns, @ubiquity75, @ruchowdh

One key problem is that people in these spaces don't really realise that options other than "corporations acting nice" or government regulation exist. In the privacy/ads space, I've been annoying people with the need to develop credible transnational institutions for a while.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
And most of the reactions aren't hostile, they're mostly a sort of "I don't know what to do with this information" reaction. I'm convinced that there's a way forward, but it's going to take explaining and pulling people into it.

Thread of 2 tweets

Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @ruchowdh and @rajiinio, @RDBinns, @ubiquity75

Exactly! People imagine this requires some sort of UN because that's the only regulation method they've seen. But domain-specific transnational institutions are right there for this.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
OH: "I don't need to remember that word, it's too long for Wordle."
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
"Large-Scale Third-Party Addressability On The Open Web Doesn’t Work – Period" @RubSchreurs is being very right on @adexchanger. adexchanger.com/data-driven-th…
↺ 2
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @alextcone and @RubSchreurs, @adexchanger

Precisely because those are the alternatives we need to make things work?
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @alextcone and @RubSchreurs, @adexchanger

I think large-scale addressability, using identifiers all over or some proxy thereof, cannot work. But alternatives that rely on different approaches can.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @alextcone and @RubSchreurs, @adexchanger

The safer we can make things such that it is near impossible to recognise people across contexts, the more powerful things we can do. I think that makes it worth the pain of standards!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @alextcone and @RubSchreurs, @adexchanger

Yeah, I think there's a big difference when IDs don't get shared!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @alextcone and @RubSchreurs, @adexchanger

Now you're just teasing, Alex 😁
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
"We need economic and political equivalents to the evolutionary wisdom of these life-wide logic patterns. For instance, policies that mimic tumor-suppressor genes and coop-cop processes that suppress unenlightened selfishness." @hangingnoodles at @NoemaMag noemamag.com/the-other-invi…
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @riptari and @IanMorris78

Of course it keeps your stats no matter what, what kind of monster wouldn't? Stats are an essential part of the experience, too, so I'm not sure that consent would factor in.

Thread of 2 tweets

Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @ppk

In-app browsers use your default browser and its webview, in my case Firefox. It's nice!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @ppk

No, I'm talking about in-app browsers. Here's a screenshot now that it's fixed.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @coolharsh55

You mean it's anticompetitive? It's not like it's a first for Chrome, sadly.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @ppk

I... installed it and made it the default?
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @ppk

This is all in-app browsers. It's not redirecting, it's in the app.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @ppk

That was Twitter, but all apps do it unless they have a bug where they hardcode it (like Aquamail).
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @cyberflamingo and @ppk

It's just DTRT when you think about it. It's only surprising because we've stopped expecting that, and also because I'm the only Firefox user on Android. (Everyone's loss though, it's good.)
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
There should be a word for that. Yes, with a hard-to-guess pronunciation.
Quoting a tweet by @anildash ↗
↺ 1
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @cyberflamingo and @ppk

You're getting Chrome in-app? I don't recall doing anything specific. Maybe try with the default.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
Fuck yeah.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @ppk and @cyberflamingo

Nope. It works most places, though. It's been that way for a few years.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @null and @SteveALee, @ppk

No, some apps have "open in the browser" and that's separate it... opens in the actual browser.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @gizmomathboy

Hmmm, garlic.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @ppk and @cyberflamingo

No, this behaviour is definitely older than that.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @null and @SteveALee, @ppk

I'm not sure what you put under useful state? I'm logged in and all, it clearly shares cookies at least. It's been this way for at least two years, and I think more.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @null and @SteveALee, @ppk

It's possible that some CMPs do something stupid there.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @braedon

That's what the little stakes are for, yes.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @braedon

Voles, yeah.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @braedon

I mean, think of the cats roaring.earth/brave-vole-vs-… (I've seen them do this and it's awesome.)
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @struthious

The best food always is.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
This is giving me ideas for when we start doing conferences and meetings in person again.
Quoting a tweet by @laura_hudson ↗
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
It turns out that researchers who *don't* wait for the second marshmallow do better. t.co/2T1XTvEwnw
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @BuggeErik

The problem is that I never think to carry an umbrella.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @cyberbaloo_

Pareil! Bientôt j'espère!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @cyberbaloo_

Je suis à Princeton maintenant, mais c'est pas trop loin!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @null and @amyvdh

I might need to practice a little bit.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @null and @amyvdh

♥️♥️♥️
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @annbass

Who needs shirts?
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @hober and @BuggeErik

Guess I just need to start practicing then!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @reidmore_online and @wendy_a_reid

We do!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @fantasai and @BuggeErik

Useful swag! I still have the apron, so this would really work.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @TzviyaSiegman and @hober, @BuggeErik

Think bigger, Tzviya. This is a new revenue and governance model all in one.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @rdeltour and @wendy_a_reid

It's not a deepfake if it's true!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @hober and @TzviyaSiegman, @BuggeErik

Damn, I hope Lachlan doesn't come.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @rdeltour and @wendy_a_reid

I hope I can make it too!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @null and @Carnage4Life, @can, @__Neha, @matthewstoller

The technology that is now being developed to produce privacy-preserving attribution could have been built before. This has been years in the making. If a tenth of the funds that went into lobbying against privacy has gone to solutions, we'd be out of the woods already.
↺ 1
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @taubeneck and @Chronotope, @Carnage4Life, @can, @__Neha, @matthewstoller

Yes, I did consider the fact that Prio is like three years old and that's not enough. But we could have deployed intermediate options much sooner, like PCM or similar and only later moved to safer/more general options.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
My point is more that this is what people have been asking for for years. Apple brought it, but if they hadn't someone else would have figured it out. Market opportunities don't just lie around forever 😁

Thread of 2 tweets

Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @taubeneck and @Chronotope, @Carnage4Life, @can, @__Neha, @matthewstoller

But then by that token we could just wait some more years for yet more tools! And we've been feeling a lot of pain under the incumbent system, I think who feels the pain is a factor.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @taubeneck and @Chronotope, @Carnage4Life, @can, @__Neha, @matthewstoller

I don't disagree that it's easier to travel the woods with magic! And it's water under the bridge anyway. My point is just that there's no point in putting this on whoever decided to use the opportunity first.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
The industry has been openly working against users on this for 20 years. There's a lot of power there, and for a while some dazzle, but this was going to break.
↺ 1

Thread of 2 tweets

Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
It's days like this that we Europeans can rejoice that, instead of bickering like a bunch of small countries with delusions of past grandeur, we spent the past few decades building robust joint European military, diplomatic apparatus, and energy policies.
↺ 23
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @ubiquity75

Did you upgrade from the 1 or go straight to the 2? I use my rm1 a lot (mostly reading, the note taking feels slow) and as a nongadget person I hate to change something that works, but I'm curious about whether note taking on the 2 is worth the upgrade.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @sn0rsan and @cgraamans

I know. I can't stop laughing.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @alextcone

I was being sarcastic on this one though 😑
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @ubiquity75

Aaaaaah I knew I shouldn't have asked 😅
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @SpareMe_theBull and @NHR20101, @b_judah

You think?
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @TheAnnaGat

Yeah
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @null and @MadronaCitizen

That's my crying face too.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @alextcone

I very much cherish the parts we got right. But Ukraine is paying for our petty failures today.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
Is it just me? I have this weird feeling that the whole "End of History" business might have been slightly delayed.
↺ 1
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @SamWHarnett

Maybe that too!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
First, presenting the Facebook/Mozilla collaboration as necessarily motivated by greed or weakness is just wrong. Standards have a tradition of cooperation and of excellent work produced by entities one may otherwise strongly disagree with. Absent evidence, this is just cynicism.
↺ 2
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
Second, the piece does not engage with the trust model discussion. On-device and O&O servers are known issues, acknowledged widely, and with proposals on the table (eg. darobin.github.io/garuda/). It's unsolved but an area of ongoing development that can't usefully be ignored.

Read the whole thread: 9 tweets →

Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @kkomaitis

Hey, this one is important!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @jornane_no

Old TV was targeted... Also, it only supported a tiny array of content by today's standards. And almost everything I described isn't about targeting.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @null and @robinwhittleton

We worked perfectly well without the Internet and with a lot less access to content and knowledge for 200 years, so let's do that and solve all the digital problems at once.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @null and @robinwhittleton

You need fraud prevention on impression models too (arguably more). Attribution isn't about ads following people around.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @EerkeBoiten

It, like, says my name right on it. All collective trust is based on governance.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @taubeneck

Very much agreed, I think that purpose-limitation is key (and so hard to achieve with data usually!)
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @jornane_no

I get the impression that this would be a more productive conversation if you took the time to understand what is being proposed first.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @null and @robinwhittleton

Having more than one model isn't necessarily dumb. And "meaningless to users" is hardly a strong criterion: a lot of infrastructure works in ways that are, at least superficially, meaningless to people.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @EerkeBoiten

I used my work as an example because it's what I know best. It doesn't at all exhaust the discussion, and certainly isn't the final say on the matter.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @mikarv

Likewise! I have some cautious optimism that not all is fucked, and that we have a shot at making things work decently.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @shails

Thanks!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @shails

I don't know about that, I think it depends a lot on how it's executed. Also, contextual has untapped capabilities that I'm excited about. I just don't see it making it big without a lot of the stuff listed there.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @alextcone

Hahaha 😂
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
Ooh, demonetising Russian state media on Facebook will be effective because, as we all know, the purpose of wartime propaganda is ad money.
Quoting a tweet by @ngleicher ↗
↺ 2
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @anthonykatsur

Thank you!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @null and @robinwhittleton

That's the kind of place you end up at with completely individualistic views of privacy, the same that made GDPR the mess it is. Infrastructure has collective benefits, we need to manage it as such.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @jornane_no

Hmm, no. Not all use of IP is tracking, that's just pure nonsense. And FLoC is not in scope here so... yeah.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @null and @robinwhittleton

I'm French, I'm quite familiar with the GDPR. As a privacy regime, it's as good as FIPs ever get which is to say not very. It does, however, have some bricks that open the door to more powerful privacy and governance.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @jornane_no

Respectfully, with every tweet you add you show that you know even less than I initially assumed. If you actually want to have a conversation, I'll still be here after you've done your homework. Either way, have a good weekend!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
This thread is worth your time today.
Quoting a tweet by @mariafarrell ↗
↺ 3
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @jornane_no

I'm not trying to discredit you, just encouraging you to read what you're criticising, since it's a better way to care.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @kkomaitis

Isn't this pretty normal for Etna, though?
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @kkomaitis

I think it changes over time. I'd be more worried if an Icelandic volcano woke up!
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @nazzer and @kkomaitis

Excellent point.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @natashanyt and @nickconfessore, @ceciliakang, @hypervisible

That, and analysis of IRL shopper behaviour tied to a known identity can enable optimisation, targeting coupons to upsell people who visibly hesitated to buy the more expensive product. I also don't buy their "no plans for advertising" stance given their growth there.
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @GregBensinger and @nickclegg

What about in Russia?
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
I repeat myself but: decentralised technology does not eliminate the power asymmetries. You will get far more robust freedom under collective governance over various levels of centralised (polycentric) technology than in a system with no enforcement capability whatsoever.
Quoting a tweet by @can ↗
↺ 9
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
No enforcement means no cooperation; no cooperation means no society and no economy. Trying to solve that by financialising everything just leads to plutocracy. It's not a coincidence that so many (well-meaning) web3 systems admit that "yeah, we still need to solve plutocracy."
Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·
I don't like to spit on web3 as a whole because I know there are wonderful people exploring the future of governance there. But my prediction: the useful new modes of governance that will emerge will be predominantly off-chain, with the chain as a convenient accounting mechanism.

Thread of 4 tweets

Robin Berjon @robinberjon ·

Replying to @rcalo

Why just EU residents though?