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patcg-individual-drafts / topics

The Topics API
https://patcg-individual-drafts.github.io/topics/
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The taxonomy should be readable in the user's language #192

Open chrisvls opened 1 year ago

chrisvls commented 1 year ago

The spec contemplates an option to allow users to opt into or opt out of which topics the user consents to be broadcast to third parties.

However, there is nothing in the spec that requires that the taxonomy be localized to the language the user is using in the browser. This makes consent and opt-in/opt-out impossible unless the user is fluent in the one language of the taxonomy.

It would also allow a browser to elude the privacy promises of the spec by storing an obscure or incorrect localization locally, while third-party users of topic data could access all localizations.

chrisvls commented 1 year ago

I found that the explainer claims that localization is suggested. But I can't find such a suggestion in the spec.

chrisvls commented 1 year ago

The explainer states:

  1. "When presenting to users, it is suggested that the actual string of the topic (translated in the local language) is presented for clarity." This suggestion does not appear in the spec.
  2. "The Topics API uses a human-readable taxonomy which allows users to recognize which topics are being sent (e.g., in UX)." This requirement does not appear in the spec.
  3. "The Topics API, unlike FLoC, exposes a curated list of topics that are chosen to avoid sensitive topics." This requirement does not appear in the spec.
  4. "Users should be able to understand the API, recognize what is being communicated about them, and have clear controls." This suggestion does not appear in the spec.
  5. Allowing users to understand what is being communicated about them "is largely a UX responsibility but it does require that the API be designed in a way such that the UX is feasible." This is not feasible without a human-readable, localized representation of the topic in the taxonomy.
chrisvls commented 1 year ago

In the early design review for the TAG, the question was asked:

"I can't see any information about how cohorts are described to advertisers, other than their 'short cohort name'. How does an advertiser know what ads to serve to a cohort given the value '43A7'? Are the cohort descriptions/metadata served out of band to advertisers?"

@jkarlin wrote:

"With Topics, the Taxonomy name is its semantic meaning."

This is contradicted by the spec, where the Taxonomy is only required to comprise a list of advertising topic ids as integers, with a hierarchical structure.