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<!doctype html><html data-theme=light lang=en xmlns=http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml><head><meta charset=UTF-8><meta name=description><meta content="width=device-width,initial-scale=1" name=viewport><meta content=#FF7E3C name=theme-color><meta content=#FF7E3C media=(prefers-color-scheme:dark) name=theme-color><title>Ruminations - Aron Petau</title><link href=https://aron.petau.net/project/ruminations/ rel=canonical><link href=https://mastodon.online/@reprintedAron rel=me><meta content=@reprintedAron@mastodon.online name=fediverse:creator><link href=https://aron.petau.net/favicon.png rel=icon type=image/png><link href=https://aron.petau.net/apple-touch-icon.png rel=apple-touch-icon sizes=180x180 type=image/png><link crossorigin href=https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/font-awesome/6.7.2/css/all.min.css integrity=sha512-... referrerpolicy=no-referrer rel=stylesheet><link title="Aron Petau - RSS Feed" href=https://aron.petau.net/rss.xml rel=alternate type=application/rss+xml><link title="Aron Petau - Atom Feed" href=https://aron.petau.net/atom.xml rel=alternate type=application/atom+xml><style>:root,[data-theme=dark]{--accent-color:#ff7e3c}@media (prefers-color-scheme:dark){:root:not([data-theme=light]){--accent-color:#ff7e3c}}</style><link href=https://aron.petau.net/style.css rel=stylesheet><link href=https://aron.petau.net/css/timeline.css rel=stylesheet><link href=https://aron.petau.net/css/mermaid.css rel=stylesheet><link href=https://aron.petau.net/css/skills.css rel=stylesheet><link href=https://aron.petau.net/css/gallery.css rel=stylesheet><script defer src=https://aron.petau.net/closable.js></script><script defer src=https://aron.petau.net/copy-button.js></script><script data-goatcounter=https://duckquill.goatcounter.com/count defer src=https://aron.petau.net/count.js></script><script defer src=https://aron.petau.net/fuse.js></script><script defer src=https://aron.petau.net/search-fuse.js></script><script defer src=https://aron.petau.net/theme-switcher.js></script><script type=module>import mermaid from 'https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/mermaid@11/dist/mermaid.esm.min.mjs';
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mermaid.initialize({ startOnLoad: true });</script><meta content="Aron Petau" property=og:site_name><meta content="Ruminations - Aron Petau" property=og:title><meta content=https://aron.petau.net/project/ruminations/ property=og:url><meta content="Perspectives on Engineering" property=og:description><meta content=https://aron.petau.net/card.png property=og:image><meta content=en_US property=og:locale><body><header id=site-nav><nav><a href=#main-content tabindex=0> Skip to Main Content </a><ul><li id=home><a href=https://aron.petau.net> <i class=icon></i>Aron Petau</a><li class=divider><li><a href=https://aron.petau.net/project/>Projects</a><li><a href=https://aron.petau.net/pages/contact/>Contact</a><li><a href=https://aron.petau.net/pages/cv/>CV</a><li><a href=https://aron.petau.net/pages/about/>About</a><li id=search><button class=circle id=search-toggle title=Search><i class=icon></i></button><li id=language-switcher><details class=closable><summary class=circle title=Language><i class=icon></i></summary> <ul><li><a href=https://aron.petau.net//de/project/ruminations/ lang=de>Deutsch</a></ul></details><li id=theme-switcher><details class=closable><summary class=circle title=Theme><i class=icon></i></summary> <ul><li><button title="Switch to Light Theme" class=circle id=theme-light><i class=icon></i></button><li><button title="Switch to Dark Theme" class=circle id=theme-dark><i class=icon></i></button><li><button title="Use System Theme" class=circle id=theme-system><i class=icon></i></button></ul></details><li id=feed><details class=closable><summary class=circle title=Feed><i class=icon></i></summary> <ul><li><a href=https://aron.petau.net/rss.xml>RSS</a><li><a href=https://aron.petau.net/atom.xml>Atom</a></ul></details><li id=repo><a class=circle href=https://forgejo.petau.net/aron/awebsite title=Repository> <i class=icon></i> </a></ul></nav><div id=search-container><label class=visually-hidden for=search-bar>Search</label><input placeholder="Search for…" autocomplete=off disabled id=search-bar type=search><div id=search-results-container><div id=search-results></div></div></div></header><main id=main-content><article><div id=heading><p><small> <time datetime=" 2023-03-01T00:00:00+00:00">Published on March 01, 2023</time></small><h1>Ruminations</h1><p><small><span>By Aron Petau and Niels Gercama</span><span> • </span><span>2 minutes read</span><span> • </span></small><ul class=tags><li><a class=tag href=https://aron.petau.net/tags/amazon/>amazon</a><li><a class=tag href=https://aron.petau.net/tags/browser-fingerprinting/>browser fingerprinting</a><li><a class=tag href=https://aron.petau.net/tags/capitalism/>capitalism</a><li><a class=tag href=https://aron.petau.net/tags/computer-vision/>computer vision</a><li><a class=tag href=https://aron.petau.net/tags/consumerism/>consumerism</a><li><a class=tag href=https://aron.petau.net/tags/data/>data</a><li><a class=tag href=https://aron.petau.net/tags/data-privacy/>data privacy</a><li><a class=tag href=https://aron.petau.net/tags/image-classifier/>image classifier</a><li><a class=tag href=https://aron.petau.net/tags/journal/>journal</a><li><a class=tag href=https://aron.petau.net/tags/javascript/>javascript</a><li><a class=tag href=https://aron.petau.net/tags/pattern-recognition/>pattern recognition</a><li><a class=tag href=https://aron.petau.net/tags/privacy/>privacy</a><li><a class=tag href=https://aron.petau.net/tags/studio-d-c/>studio d+c</a><li><a class=tag href=https://aron.petau.net/tags/todo-unfinished/>TODO, unfinished</a><li><a class=tag href=https://aron.petau.net/tags/university-of-the-arts-berlin/>university of the arts berlin</a></ul></div><div id=buttons-container><a title="Go to Top" href=#top id=go-to-top><i class=icon></i></a><a href="https://shareopenly.org/share/?url=https://aron.petau.net/project/ruminations/&text=Perspectives%20on%20Engineering" id=share title=Share><i class=icon></i></a><a title="File an Issue" href=https://forgejo.petau.net/aron/awebsite/issues id=issue><i class=icon></i></a></div><h2 id=Ruminations>Ruminations</h2><p>was a contemplation on data privacy at Amazon. It asks how to subvert browser fingerprinting and evading the omnipresent tracking of the consumer.<p>The initial idea was to somehow, by interacting with the perpetrator and letting data accumulate that would degrade their knowledge and thereby destroy predictablity, making this particular dataset worth less.<p>We could have just added a random clickbot, to confuse things a bit and make the data less valuable. But looking at todays state of datacleanup algorithms and the sheer amount of data that is collected, this would have been a futile attempt. Amazon just detects and removes any noise we add and continues to use the data.<p>So, then, how can we create coherent, non-random data that is still not predictable?<p>One answer that this concept should demonstrate, is by inserting patterns that amazon cannot foresee with their current algorithms. As if they were trying to predict the actions of a person with shizophrenia.<h2 id=The_Concept>The Concept</h2><p>It consists of a browser extension (currently Chrome only) that overlays all web pages of Amazon with a moving entity that tracks your behavior. While tracking, an image classifier algorithm is used to formulate a product query off of the Storefront. After computation, a perfectly fitting product is displayed for your consumer's pleasure.<h2 id=The_analogue_watchdog>The analogue watchdog</h2><p>A second part of the project is a low-tech installation consisting of a camera (we used a smartphone) running a computer-vision algorithm tracking tiny movements. This was then pointed towards the browser console in the laptop running the extension. The camera was then connected to a screen that displayed the captured image. The watchdog was trained to make robot noises depending on the type and amount of movement detected. Effectively, whenever data traffic beween amazon and the browser was detected, the watchdog would start making noises.<h1 id=The_Browser_extension>The Browser extension</h1><p>gallery: <img alt="The project installation" src=https://aron.petau.net/project/ruminations/ruminations1.jpeg> <img alt="The project installation" src=https://aron.petau.net/project/ruminations/ruminations2.jpeg> <img alt="The project installation" src=https://aron.petau.net/project/ruminations/ruminations3.jpeg><h3 id=Find_the_code_on_GitHub>Find the code on GitHub</h3><p>Subvert a bit yourself, or just have a look at the code.<p><a href=https://github.com/arontaupe/ruminations>The code of the Project on GitHub</a><p>TODO: create video with live demo</article><hr><nav id=post-nav><a class="post-nav-item post-nav-prev" href=https://aron.petau.net/project/lampshades/> <div class=nav-arrow>Previous</div> <span class=post-title>Lampshades</span> </a><a class="post-nav-item post-nav-next" 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