# Profiling: How do you feel about all your spending habits being tracked, used and sold?



## horseless carriage (Mar 19, 2021)

We all know supermarkets use information about our shopping habits to target us with personalised vouchers and offers – but how would you feel about sitting down to watch a movie and being confronted with adverts based on what was in your shopping a few hours earlier?
Or what would you think about your supermarket using its loyalty card database to check what you are eating, and possibly offering vouchers for salad and fruit if your basket is usually groaning with unhealthy items? These are just two of the ways the supermarket giants make use of the data they gather on us.

For every loyalty point or coupon that your supermarket dish out, they gobble up a huge amount of information about our shopping habits. We are all familiar with targeted offers linked to loyalty cards, but you might be surprised at the amount of data the big retailers collect on all of their shoppers – and even potential customers – and what they do with it. If you have opted out of taking out a loyalty card because you don't want "Big Brother in your shopping basket", then too bad, because the supermarkets also track debit and credit card payment data and till receipts – so someone, somewhere, knows about that bottle of wine you bought at 12.28pm on Tuesday, and that you recently switched your brand of athlete's foot cream.

Harvesting our personal details goes further, much further. The technological giants have become masters at it, everything from *cookies* on your computer/phone/gizmo to your home and email address. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg gave access to sensitive user data to dozens of app developer friends, according to thousands of leaked documents. Companies were also given incentives to share their data with Facebook, while those that did not were shut out and denied access. If you think that is underhand you should check out Google.

Banks track us when we spend on our cards as do so many others. What I find so repugnant is when you use any sort of tactic to avoid all this tracking and find yourself demonised. Take the point of using cash. Cash is slower, it's unhealthy, it caries the covid germ, we will be cashless before long. I don't mind being cashless but I bet we can't buy a card that is anonymous on which we can load so much money for spending use. 

Finally, the favourite argument often put up is: "What have you got to hide?" To which I reply, "Why do you want to know?" I don't want my personal details, stored, shared, bought and sold, that's why I pay with cash, why I clean all the cookies every time I log off and why I use Duck Duck Go instead of Google.


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## Aunt Bea (Mar 19, 2021)

It's not just the tracking of our spending or our internet searches these days but also the tracking of our movements with cameras on the street, in stores, etc...

I don't mind the loss of privacy as long as the people monitoring my activity continue to use some discretion.







_"1984 was not supposed to be an instruction manual."_ - Unknown


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## hollydolly (Mar 19, 2021)

I feel very strongly about not having a cashless society... I just mentioned it elsewhere.

I'm as guilty as most using a debit card at the supermarket for big purchases, but I try where possible to use cash for smaller purchases, and yes even sometimes if I have larger notes which now is becoming less and less... I will pay by cash for larger items.

We know we're being followed wherever we go..on the internet, in the road... and even where there are no govt /police scurity cameras, our neighbours have them.....and our motorways are the same with speed cameras following your every move..

Further, our smart phones give away our movements wherever we are...  1984 is here in Spades...


https://papltd.co.uk/top-10-countries-and-cities-by-number-of-cctv-cameras/


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## J.B Books (Mar 19, 2021)

You are just scratching the surface on this topic my man.
This is the business I was involved in for 10 years 1996-2006
The stuff we had 15 years ago would blow you away. We developed a loyalty card system that would recognize you when you walked into a retailer. The store know what you bought. The system would be able to send you an text suggesting this shirt that would go with the sweater you bought last week.
We had neural network datamining software that would get smarter on you when ever you bought something.
Information to manufactures was gold. Cosmetic companies wanted to know what product a 57 year old Hispanic woman was looking at or what was important to that 18 year old girl.
Google tracks everywhere you go. They sell micro marketing to retailers in larger cities. That would be like Joe's diner texting everyone about there lunch special that was within 1500 feet of their location. Health department can use your cell phone info for contact tracing for covid. They track movements of festival attendees to where they go home and if that caused an outbreak.
Companied would buy your data to enrich what info they have on you to develop special offers for credit cards, autos, etc. Every purchase you made, your credit rating, what car you drive, what cities you visit, what you eat, is all compiled into a database and offers are formulated based on that info. The neural network intelligence was developed for the military to track incoming missiles and ICBMs to predict targets and direction which was fed into the missile defense system.
We developed the use of RFID on your merchandise and smart refrigerators to let you know what product you need to buy and what was going bad by expiration date.
I could keep going on an on. It's scary. I use a faraday bag among other things for my phone.
This technology is used by the FBI to completely block a cell phone from the network. Do a search on Faraday bags.
You cellphone is still tracking where you go even when turned off.

Anyway, I don't have time to elaborate more as I could do a core dump for hours on what technology is out there.


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## hollydolly (Mar 19, 2021)

The problem with using a Faraday Bag to stop your Phone being tracked.. is that the very second you open the bag, any apps you have downloaded onto your phone will immediately give away your position... 

Here's some things people may not know their phone ( iphone or android) knows about you.... 

https://www.rd.com/list/things-smartphone-knows-about-you/


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## timoc (Mar 19, 2021)

hollydolly said:


> The problem with using a Faraday Bag to stop your Phone being tracked.. is that the very second you open the bag, any apps you have downloaded onto your phone will immediately give away your position...
> 
> Here's some things people may not know their phone ( iphone or android) knows about you....
> 
> https://www.rd.com/list/things-smartphone-knows-about-you/


That's what 'appens when you 'ave apps.


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## horseless carriage (Mar 19, 2021)

Thank you for your responses, it is enlightening, and so very scary too. I am minded of John Ruskin when he said: "There's no such thing as a free lunch." All the offers, all the freebies come down to one thing, we the spending public are the product.


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## J.B Books (Mar 19, 2021)

timoc said:


> That's what 'appens when you 'ave apps.


Exactly.
I have zero apps and I use a Blackberry phone for better security.


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## J.B Books (Mar 19, 2021)

hollydolly said:


> The problem with using a Faraday Bag to stop your Phone being tracked.. is that the very second you open the bag, any apps you have downloaded onto your phone will immediately give away your position...
> 
> Here's some things people may not know their phone ( iphone or android) knows about you....
> 
> https://www.rd.com/list/things-smartphone-knows-about-you/


The reason I use a faraday bag is to block the location tracking. The contact tracing is evil.
I don't take my phone into stores or church. It is in a faraday bag in my vehicle.


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## Gary O' (Mar 19, 2021)

I think they got disinterested in me awhile back

I'd hate to be the one tracking/logging me;


'He's still in the door hinge section'

'He's still in the door hinge section'

'He's still in the door hinge section'

'He bought three hinges'

'He's bringing back three hinges'

'He's in the door hinge section'

'He's still in the door hinge section'

'Wait.....He's moved to the wood screw section'

'Now he's back in the door hinge section'

'He's still in the door hinge section'


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## J.B Books (Mar 19, 2021)

Also,
Any smart TV, or anything like a personal assistant is listening to you 24/7.
Why anyone would have one of those is beyond me.

And facial recognition software! Don't get me going on that. That's why I won't post pictures of myself on this forum or any social media platform. All the bio's on me have a picture from 14 years ago.
Can't hide from that completely as my picture is on file with the state from my drivers license and the FBI has my picture and prints even because I have a conceal carry license in 38 states.


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## Aunt Bea (Mar 19, 2021)

This thread reminds me of Joe Louis and Billy Conn.

_“He can run, but he can’t hide.”_ - Joe Louis


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## Kathleen’s Place (Mar 19, 2021)

I guess I honestly don’t care anymore.  If they want to take the time and effort to know...have at it.


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## DaveA (Mar 19, 2021)

It is what it is. Truthfully, I never give it much thought.  Possibly if I were a man of great wealth, I'd be concerned that my bank account would be stripped clean or some other such horror but if they want to send me an ad for a different brand of milk than the one a bought yesterday, I can survive that.

And similar to Gary's post, if they choose to "follow me around", I hope they enjoy the places I visit, otherwise "they?" are in for some looooong days.


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## Dana (Mar 19, 2021)

There is so much information collected on a daily basis about individuals...if you only knew your head would spin. If you protect your phone, you have to protect your laptop, your TV and any technology which relies on satellite signals. At any given moment any government can produce a dossier on an individual. 

One point to consider, should you be in a coma and lying somewhere and you have your phone in a faraday bag, makes it a bit difficult for you to be rescued.


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## MarkinPhx (Mar 19, 2021)

To me the question is how much would you pay to gain back control of your privacy regarding your spending and location? Would you be willing to pay $20 a month for an internet browser that does not keep track of your activity ? Keep in mind that such a browser would probably not allow for bookmarks, auto fill ins, cookies and such so you would have to enter the www address all the time along with your password to sites. Would you be willing to pay extra money to an ISP that would not give out your browsing information unless requested to do so by law enforcement ? Would you be willing to pay $10 a month to use a service such as Google Maps that would guarantee your location history would not be sold ? I am not saying that it isn't alarming how much of what we do online is tracked but "free" comes with a cost and we are paying everytime we do use a free service, even something as benign as Gmail. Personally, I am fully aware of that cost but it does not  bother me but I certainly understand the concerns of many. 

As far as "shopper loyalty cards" go, it is a trade off of not using them and not getting a savings on groceries (and gas at my store) versus the savings. I chose to use the cards but understand why someone would not want to. As the OP stated, this is nothing new. Remember the coupons from the cereal boxes you or your parents mailed in to get some special free offer ? Name was put on a mailing list. Did you list your phone number and address in the White Pages ? That information was public information. Again, not dismissing the ease of how companies can now track our spending and location habits but if you wish to control what is shared but still want the technology that is offered, then there will be a cost. 

Sorry for the ramble but it is a topic that I do find interesting. The one thing that I do think is very troubling is that Google, FB, your ISP, local grocery store, etc are not very forthright about how much information is shared or sold to other agencies. I do think there should be some type of legislation which makes it easier for consumers to know what is shared.


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## hollydolly (Mar 19, 2021)

My Bold.... *Sorry for the ramble but it is a topic that I do find interesting. The one thing that I do think is very troubling is that Google, FB, your ISP, local grocery store, etc are not very forthright about how much information is shared or sold to other agencies. I do think there should be some type of legislation which makes it easier for consumers to know what is shared.
*

Agree wholeheartedly ...


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## Aunt Bea (Mar 19, 2021)

It gives me a little comfort that the information captured about me is mixed in with bits of information about billions of other people so the chance of being singled out by evildoers is not much greater than it is in real life.

_"The world will never discover a person who is hiding in the crowd."_ - Marty Grothe


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## Chet (Mar 19, 2021)

Those loyalty cards that I've run into also want your phone number when you join. That's all I need ... more annoying telemarketer calls.


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## hollydolly (Mar 19, 2021)

Chet said:


> Those loyalty cards that I've run into also want your phone number when you join. That's all I need ... more annoying telemarketer calls.


I always refuse to give my phone number. If they have my email address ( which is one which is set up for junk mail only)...then I tell them they need nothing more...


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## Don M. (Mar 19, 2021)

"Privacy" disappeared a long time ago.  If you use the Internet, or have a smart phone, use a credit/debit card, etc., your movements, purchases, internet activity, etc., etc., are all available to almost anyone, or any company.  No matter what measures you might take to protect your personal information, the companies, government, and "hackers" will eventually find a way to work around it.  The Only way to protect your finances, etc., is to assume that every unsolicited "contact" is out to fleece you, and take all necessary precautions before responding to any communications you receive.


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## Judycat (Mar 19, 2021)

I don't care and I thumb my nose at Big Brother whenever I can.


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## Aneeda72 (Mar 19, 2021)

I could not care less, let them track me.  Oh, look, the fat old lady is in the candy isle again


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## MarciKS (Mar 19, 2021)

Once again I don't understand the big deal about this. It's just so they can help you find what you're looking for. You're buying it anyway. What diff does it make if they try to sell it to you. The ads are basically virtual flyers. I'm not bothered by it. If someone cares how much tp I purchase each month...whatever. It's not like they're rooting around in all my personal business. It's no different than say...Margaret from next door seeing you purchase bras or something. And offering you info on where to get a good bra at a good price.


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## MarciKS (Mar 19, 2021)

Aneeda72 said:


> I could not care less, let them track me.  Oh, look, the fat old lady is in the candy isle again


Right? LMAO!


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## MarciKS (Mar 19, 2021)

Just wanna say...laughing still really hurts.


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## Rosemarie (Mar 19, 2021)

If this is the case, that our every movement is being monitored, how is it that there is so much unresolved crime? In theory, no-one should be able to get away with anything.
While on this subject, I have a question. I'm very wary of 'smart' tvs, but the tv I have is starting to play up and it seems all new tvs are 'smart' ones. Is it possible to watch one without connecting to the internet....and use it as a normal tv?


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## Devi (Mar 19, 2021)

Rosemarie said:


> I'm very wary of 'smart' tvs, but the tv I have is starting to play up and it seems all new tvs are 'smart' ones. Is it possible to watch one without connecting to the internet....and use it as a normal tv?


Yes. Just don't plug it into the Internet, or use any built-in apps that connect to the Internet.


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## AnnieA (Mar 19, 2021)

J.B Books said:


> You are just scratching the surface on this topic my man.
> This is the business I was involved in for 10 years 1996-2006
> The stuff we had 15 years ago would blow you away. We developed a loyalty card system that would recognize you when you walked into a retailer. The store know what you bought. The system would be able to send you an text suggesting this shirt that would go with the sweater you bought last week.
> We had neural network datamining software that would get smarter on you when ever you bought something.
> ...



Okay ...about to look for a Faraday bag but am wondering if that's gonna put me on someone's list as a person who has something to hide...


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## hollydolly (Mar 19, 2021)

Rosemarie said:


> If this is the case, that our every movement is being monitored, how is it that there is so much unresolved crime? In theory, no-one should be able to get away with anything.
> While on this subject, I have a question. I'm very wary of 'smart' tvs, but the tv I have is starting to play up and it seems all new tvs are 'smart' ones. Is it possible to watch one without connecting to the internet....and use it as a normal tv?


Absolutely... just as @Devi  said...


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## SeaBreeze (Mar 19, 2021)

I'm not crazy about being tracked, and I'd rather it didn't happen. But as I saw technology involved more and more in our world over the decades, I knew it was inevitable.  When the supermarkets and local drug stores started making people sign up to use their card, I resisted at first.  The more I saw savings not being given to customers unless they were a card carrier, I gave in.

I don't like the idea of a smart TV, but some years back I broke down and got an Android cell phone.  I rarely use it for anything but a short phone call to my husband, have disabled a lot of the apps that came already on the phone, and I don't do any bank business or do anything with my credit cards on the phone at all.  Unless I'm downloading a security system update, I have the WIFI turned off.

I have Norton Anti Virus on my computer, they offer VPN service, but I haven't chosen to use it yet.  It would limit being tracked while shopping or browsing online supposedly, but I don't know if there are any drawbacks of using a VPN.  Also, even on my home computer, I don't keep any sensitive information or keep any important files.

I hate the idea of having cameras all over the place, but I know they help business watch out for thieves, plus if there's a robbery or violent incident in a business, there is more hope to catch the criminal with video/camera surveillance.  I try not to let the tracking bother me too much, I just don't give our any info that I don't have to, and try and keep a positive attitude.


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## Nathan (Mar 19, 2021)

horseless carriage said:


> Profiling: How do you feel about all your spending habits being tracked, used and sold?


I used to be an absolute _driven_ privacy freak, but if you want to do anything at all on the internet you're going to forfeit your privacy.
A person could use Tor networks and other measures like the drug dealers and pedophiles do, however nothing's foolproof.


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## MarciKS (Mar 19, 2021)

Nathan said:


> I used to be an absolute _driven_ privacy freak, but if you want to do anything at all on the internet you're going to forfeit your privacy.
> A person could use Tor networks and other measures like the drug dealers and pedophiles do, however nothing's foolproof.


I would think if they had that much access there'd be more bank acct draining going on. Among other things.


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## Packerjohn (Mar 19, 2021)

I have read a few books on this topic and it is really frightening.  I have stopped using Facebook over 1/2 year ago.  I do not own & never will own a "not so smart" phone.  Yes, I too use "Duck Go Go" and I clean out all those trackers with my McAfee Anti Virus program.  I pay cash for small purchases.  I never write to Amazon filling out their surveys about their products.  I never do those dumb slips of paper at the stores that are suppose to tell them "How are we doing?"  This new generation of brios are obsessed with information gathering.  A couple of days ago, I tried to phone our government taxation office.  They said that I would have to wait over 2 hours for a live voice & then they had the nerve to ask me if I was willing to do a "short" survey after I was finished.  What do you think I said?  I'm from Canada but that doesn't  mean I'm stupid!  Every year we are moving closer and closer to a police state where the government and big business will track you all the time and know more about you than  you do.  In the future, we will be little rodents running in the market place.  Actually, I think we are already.  When I go to the big city nearby, thousands of cars are driving around all day and maybe shopping.  Fewer and fewer are working.  Yup, brother!  The "Brave, New World" is here and it's not going away.  Kind of nice that I'm in my 70s.


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## Pappy (Mar 19, 2021)

I’m like some of you and just don’t care and there’s not a darn thing I can do about it. Whomever they assign to track me will have one hell of a time staying awake...


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## fmdog44 (Mar 19, 2021)

Monitoring spending trends started with credit cards. We are being watched and by who, where and when is none of our business.


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## Irwin (Mar 19, 2021)

Here's an article about how facial recognition software is being used to solve crimes:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/03/18/magazine/facial-recognition-clearview-ai.html

So that's one of the positive uses of all this data. The danger comes when tracking technology is used for nefarious purposes, like trying to steal an election, or instead of for solving crimes -- to commit crimes.


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## Keesha (Mar 19, 2021)

I don’t like it one bit which is why I don’t use my location on my iPhone and I delete my cookies every few days so I’m not tracked. I also don’t answer my phone unless I know for sure who is calling. Being ultra paranoid seems to have some advantages here. My husband on the other hand couldn’t care less which is why he does most of our shopping but we also change phones often and email addresses. I’m NOT ok with being followed around. I haven’t purchased anything online for quite a while because whenever I did get something , the advertisements of what I’d been looking at would instantly show up on this forum which I’d find spooky. Then again, I spook easily.


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## SetWave (Mar 19, 2021)

I just like to think, "Track THIS!" 

But, seriously (well that was serious . . . ) if advertising is supposed to target me from where I wander in the worldwidewackiness it's doing a pretty terrible job. I have never seen anything remotely interesting. So, track on you sonsabitches.


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## horseless carriage (Mar 19, 2021)

Packerjohn said:


> Every year we are moving closer and closer to a police state where the government and big business will track you all the time and know more about you than  you do.


So many agree, tracking our data feels like a liberty too far. I disagree with those who feel that it's inevitable and that they can look at what I do if they have a mind to. That is exactly what the big corporations want. They want us to feel that it doesn't matter because my small life isn't worth looking into.

The Snowden revelations suggest that the NSA can collect 5 billion records of mobile phone location a day and 42 billion internet records including email and browsing history, a month.

German organisation OpenDataCity estimates that while the former Stasi's archives would fill 48,000 filing cabinets, just one US government server could store so much data that, if printed out, the reams of paper would fill 42 trillion filing cabinets.

We know very little about what the NSA does with all this data. But, leaving historical parallels aside, the Stasi archive is a timely warning of the potential consequences of unchecked surveillance. It shows how quickly a system for identifying threats evolves into a desire to know everything about everyone.

Thank you all again for airing your views, some of the posts that you have informed us of makes for very worrying reading.


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## Nathan (Mar 19, 2021)

MarciKS said:


> I would think if they had that much access there'd be more bank acct draining going on. Among other things.


Criminal hacking(actually called cracking) is definitely a growing threat, as technology progress tears away at individual security in pursuit of harvesting your online data containing your habits as a consumer.


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## MarciKS (Mar 19, 2021)

Nathan said:


> Criminal hacking(actually called cracking) is definitely a growing threat, as technology progress tears away at individual security in pursuit of harvesting your online data containing your habits as a consumer.


to do what with?


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## Nathan (Mar 19, 2021)

MarciKS said:


> to do what with?


 Most data is sold to third parties doing typical marketing research.


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## MarciKS (Mar 19, 2021)

Nathan said:


> Most data is sold to third parties doing typical marketing research.


And?


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## Nathan (Mar 19, 2021)

Rosemarie said:


> While on this subject, I have a question. I'm very wary of 'smart' tvs, but the tv I have is starting to play up and it seems all new tvs are 'smart' ones. Is it possible to watch one without connecting to the internet....and use it as a normal tv?


Several years ago I bought a 47" flat-screen TV at Costco, the price was right.  But, it didn't have any "smart" features, but I bought a Chromecast plug-in device that gets me access to Netflix and Youtube etc.


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## Pecos (Mar 19, 2021)

I've gone online and looked at a whole bunch of crap that I had no intention of buying. Then sat back and watched all the stuff running up and down the right side of my screen.

Yes, I was bored!! ... and it wasn't that amusing.


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## Dana (Mar 19, 2021)

Well.., I have to say I find it quite amusing that outrage is felt by some when they think they are being tracked...yet... some are willing to put  pictures of themselves and location of their homes on social media, thus giving would be identity snatchers or thieves a field day


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## J.B Books (Mar 19, 2021)

Keesha said:


> I don’t like it one bit which is why I don’t use my location on my iPhone and I delete my cookies every few days so I’m not tracked. I also don’t answer my phone unless I know for sure who is calling. Being ultra paranoid seems to have some advantages here. My husband on the other hand couldn’t care less which is why he does most of our shopping but we also change phones often and email addresses. I’m NOT ok with being followed around. I haven’t purchased anything online for quite a while because whenever I did get something , the advertisements of what I’d been looking at would instantly show up on this forum which I’d find spooky. Then again, I spook easily.


I hate to tell you that even though you turn off your location settings, your phone is still being tracked just not feeding the apps if you have any.


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## Lakeland living (Mar 19, 2021)

I enjoy using some tin foil. set up automatic updates on my phone. Then wrap it in foil. Computer on the other end will keep trying and trying and trying....lol
   Yes, really really bored during freezing rain storm.


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## horseless carriage (Mar 20, 2021)

MarciKS said:


> And?




You should research data harvesting a little further Marci, just think how impressed your clients would be if you went into clairvoyance.


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## MarciKS (Mar 20, 2021)

i just don't get what difference it makes if they know i bought 5 gallons of ice cream this month. they collected the data. they showed me ads for ice cream. big whoop. i should add no offense.


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## horseless carriage (Mar 20, 2021)

No offence taken at all. This is an agreeable forum, but that doesn't mean we have to agree. Debate is much more lively and engaging when opposite views are aired. It took me a long time to make my first post because I have followed, lurking I think it's called, a good number of forums where some members take it as a slight if the world doesn't agree with every detail. 

How boring life would be if we were all to have the same outlook, the same political belief, the same old, same old.

Your view on your data being collected for target advertising is: "So what? It doesn't bother me." My take is the opposite, what I do, where I go, is tantamount to being my intellectual property. Why should big corporations have all those details? There's not much point arguing the subject further, that said, if you feel there is, I will certainly read what you have to say. Engaging different views expands the mind.


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## MarciKS (Mar 20, 2021)

if you don't wanna engage that's fine. i was just gonna say that does it ever occur to anyone that this information they gather helps them to know how much product to have to meet public demand? they're not doing it to spy. they're doing it to try to provide better services. i want them to know about those 5 gallons of ice cream so i don't go to the store and find an empty spot. you know?


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## horseless carriage (Mar 20, 2021)

We are all victims of spam, adware and other unwelcome methods of trying to separate us from our money. Most online targeted marketing is far better than blanket marketing and can actually be very useful. However, to achieve this, advertising organisations need to track and hold a significant amount of information about users and their preferences.

Some of this can be personal, such as age and location. When companies are tracking spending profiles and the types of products people buy, this can become very sensitive. Basically, marketeers are gathering huge amounts of information and then searching through this for marketing purposes. However, this data can also be misused for nefarious purposes in the wrong hands.

One aspect of preventing data harvesting is helping the naïve to protect themselves: parents, extended family, friends and children often do not understand the implications of giving out sensitive personal information, such as the kind posted on social media. Something like posting a holiday photo to Facebook may be all that is needed to indicate to a criminal that he person is not at home. Then, the metadata from a picture of that person’s recent BBQ can be used to find out the exact location of the currently empty house.

That example happened to my former neighbour and all they did was to say that they were looking forward to a cruise. Their house was burgled and trashed. It caused them so much distress that they moved.


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## MarciKS (Mar 20, 2021)

_"One aspect of preventing data harvesting is helping the naïve to protect themselves: parents, extended family, friends and children often do not understand the implications of giving out sensitive personal information, such as the kind posted on social media. Something like posting a holiday photo to Facebook may be all that is needed to indicate to a criminal that he person is not at home. Then, the metadata from a picture of that person’s recent BBQ can be used to find out the exact location of the currently empty house.

That example happened to my former neighbour and all they did was to say that they were looking forward to a cruise. Their house was burgled and trashed. It caused them so much distress that they moved."_

That part I understand. That has nothing to do with marketing. Thanks for responding.


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## Ken N Tx (Mar 20, 2021)

As for internet surfing, I use DuckDuckGo for my search engine, no tracking!


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## hollydolly (Mar 20, 2021)

Pecos said:


> I've gone online and looked at a whole bunch of crap that I had no intention of buying. Then sat back and watched all the stuff running up and down the right side of my screen.
> 
> Yes, I was bored!! ... and it wasn't that amusing.


you wanna get yourself a better ad-blocker


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## Aunt Marg (Mar 20, 2021)

Judycat said:


> I don't care and I thumb my nose at Big Brother whenever I can.


I'm of the same club.


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## Packerjohn (Mar 20, 2021)

Anyone who really wants to know about Big Brother (your "democratic" government) should read the book by Edward Snowden, called "Permanent Record."  I read it about 2 weeks & have made some positive changes in my life.


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## hollydolly (Mar 20, 2021)

I've just been a n


Packerjohn said:


> Anyone who really wants to know about Big Brother (your "democratic" government) should read the book by Edward Snowden, called "Permanent Record."  I read it about 2 weeks & have made some positive changes in my life.


I've just read the synopsis and the reviews, and have now  downloaded it to my kindle....


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## HoneyNut (Mar 20, 2021)

I don't mind getting targeted content usually, it's nice to get coupons for items I actually buy.  YouTube takes it too far though, I wish they would offer me a little variety instead of just the same types of videos.
It can be convenient when big brother is watching.  Once I was at a store with an inexperienced check out person who couldn't get my credit card to work and the CC company called me right then about 'suspicious' activity and I explained and they helped the clerk know the correct buttons to press.  
When instant messaging was still pretty new, we were sure our employers were reading our chats, so one coworker (Julie) and I would always include in our chats "Julie deserves a big raise".  By golly she got a super big raise -- scary but nice!


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