The Accuracy of the Demographic Inferences Shown on Google's Ad Settings

TitleThe Accuracy of the Demographic Inferences Shown on Google's Ad Settings
Publication TypeConference Paper
Year of Publication2018
AuthorsTschantz, M. Carl, Egelman S., Choi J., Weaver N., & Friedland G.
Published inProceedings of the 2018 Workshop on Privacy in the Electronic Society
Page(s)33-41
ISBN Number978-1-4503-5989-4
Abstract

Google's Ad Settings shows the gender and age that Google has inferred about a web user. We compare the inferred values to the self-reported values of 501 survey participants. We find that Google often does not show an inference, but when it does, it is typically correct. We explore which usage characteristics, such as using privacy enhancing technologies, are associated with Google's accuracy, but found no significant results.

Acknowledgment

This research was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) grants CNS 1065240 and CNS 1514509. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of any sponsoring institution, the U.S. government or any other entity. 

URLhttp://delivery.acm.org/10.1145/3270000/3268962/p33-tschantz.pdf?ip=192.150.187.235&id=3268962&acc=ACTIVE%20SERVICE&key=0A6AD1E863DA1AC4%2E4D4702B0C3E38B35%2E4D4702B0C3E38B35%2E4D4702B0C3E38B35&__acm__=1557517258_4cc2c6549dbcb7fec7792a72866cc01a
DOI10.1145/3267323.3268962
ICSI Research Group

Networking and Security