Advertisement Cyberstalking (1 Viewer)

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You've read the articles of Alexa listening in on your conversations, Google tracking your location, everyone tracking your browsing habits. The savvy person will usually take steps to block these attempts to track you. Block cookies, turn off location services on your phone etc.

I understand that any time you pay for something electronically there's nothing you can really do about how that business uses or shares your purchase habits and most people accept that for convenience sake. We all know that we are being tracked in every way possible; what we buy, what we like, what we watch, where we go and as a result you come to expect an ad popping up in relation to what you've been browsing or similar to a purchase you've made. However, every now and again you get that really uncomfortable moment where an ad pops up that's seems way too specific to be just coincidence. Facebook, seems to do this a lot where you're talking about a product and an ad for that product mysteriously pops up on your feed. This morning was another really weird instance.

Yesterday, my daughter and I went to Walmart and when we went in, we went through the garden center because my daughter wanted to look for a certain type of plant. When we were done looking at the plants we saw these plastic fiber Adirondack chairs. We didn't really talk about them much and never said what they were out loud. I simply sat in one and told my daughter that they were really comfortable. I also told her that I'd like to get some and maybe a side table for the patio. This morning I got on Amazon to look for a new dog water dispenser and this was the ad staring back at me as soon as I opened the app.
 

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The apps tap into your microphone. The creators of different apps claim they don’t unless you have the feature turned on but we all know that’s not true.

Cameras probably activate without our knowledge as well.
 
Side note. Those chairs are today's deal of the day from Amazon.

Looks like coincidence.
 
Side note. Those chairs are today's deal of the day from Amazon.

Looks like coincidence.
Ok, I edited, though still not the easiest read.

Maybe so in this case, but you still can't ignore that things like this happen far too often for them all to be coincidence. I'm not talking about the run-of-the-mill, "I was browsing bacon & suddenly I was getting advertisements for bacon." I'm talking about mentioning products in conversation and then seeing those same products being advertised in your browser or in an app.
 
Ok, I edited, though still not the easiest read.

Maybe so in this case, but you still can't ignore that things like this happen far too often for them all to be coincidence. I'm not talking about the run-of-the-mill, "I was browsing bacon & suddenly I was getting advertisements for bacon." I'm talking about mentioning products in conversation and then seeing those same products being advertised in your browser or in an app.
playing Sauron's advocate, you've probably seen tons of ads for Adirondack chairs without realizing it bc your antenna wasn't up
i was discussing 'serendipity' with a class and we decided to do a field test
we picked something that wasn't too unfamiliar but was something you didn't expect to hear much at all (i think we picked the Great Wall of China) and then we charted ho soon we heard it
- it was a friday, 1/2 the students had heard the phrase by the end of the day and everyone heard it over the weekend
 
playing Sauron's advocate, you've probably seen tons of ads for Adirondack chairs without realizing it bc your antenna wasn't up
i was discussing 'serendipity' with a class and we decided to do a field test
we picked something that wasn't too unfamiliar but was something you didn't expect to hear much at all (i think we picked the Great Wall of China) and then we charted ho soon we heard it
- it was a friday, 1/2 the students had heard the phrase by the end of the day and everyone heard it over the weekend

That and it's not really an ad. They often highlight their deal of the day when you open the ap. Right now, I just opened it and the deal on Dyson's pops up.
 
Maybe so in this case, but you still can't ignore that things like this happen far too often for them all to be coincidence. I'm not talking about the run-of-the-mill, "I was browsing bacon & suddenly I was getting advertisements for bacon." I'm talking about mentioning products in conversation and then seeing those same products being advertised in your browser or in an app.

This summer, a friend of mine, from Louisiana - who is a professor in Kentucky now - was putting together a syllabus. He was up here visiting us and we chatted about some of the course objectives and he was asking for some input about any scholarly work he might include.

So, I mentioned a professor's name to him - a guy who was a professor in Buffalo whom he'd never heard of. He'd never read the guy's work. Never searched him. Never cited him. A totally new source to my friend.

The next morning, when he opened up Amazon on his phone, one of the 'recommended items' for him happened to be a book written by that professor.

Gotta say, it was a little unnerving.
 
This summer, a friend of mine, from Louisiana - who is a professor in Kentucky now - was putting together a syllabus. He was up here visiting us and we chatted about some of the course objectives and he was asking for some input about any scholarly work he might include.

So, I mentioned a professor's name to him - a guy who was a professor in Buffalo whom he'd never heard of. He'd never read the guy's work. Never searched him. Never cited him. A totally new source to my friend.

The next morning, when he opened up Amazon on his phone, one of the 'recommended items' for him happened to be a book written by that professor.

Gotta say, it was a little unnerving.
Wow, that is a perfect example & yeah, that would freak me out as well. I'm by no means a tinfoil hat kinda person with most things, but I really do believe that our devices are eavesdropping on our personal lives, movements & conversations where they should not be.
 
playing Sauron's advocate, you've probably seen tons of ads for Adirondack chairs without realizing it bc your antenna wasn't up
i was discussing 'serendipity' with a class and we decided to do a field test
we picked something that wasn't too unfamiliar but was something you didn't expect to hear much at all (i think we picked the Great Wall of China) and then we charted ho soon we heard it
- it was a friday, 1/2 the students had heard the phrase by the end of the day and everyone heard it over the weekend
I get what you're saying and I know that's probably what happens somewhat often. However, I can't really say that's the case in this situation because it's something that we've wanted to get for a while, but never could justify spending for the wooden ones. So, it's something that I would have taken notice of when it came across my screen.
 
This summer, a friend of mine, from Louisiana - who is a professor in Kentucky now - was putting together a syllabus. He was up here visiting us and we chatted about some of the course objectives and he was asking for some input about any scholarly work he might include.

So, I mentioned a professor's name to him - a guy who was a professor in Buffalo whom he'd never heard of. He'd never read the guy's work. Never searched him. Never cited him. A totally new source to my friend.

The next morning, when he opened up Amazon on his phone, one of the 'recommended items' for him happened to be a book written by that professor.

Gotta say, it was a little unnerving.
25ish years ago my college friend came to visit me in NYC - -we were walking through Central Park talking about other college friends
he said something like "have you heard from 'Sally'" - i was like, "i haven't thought about 'Sally' since college' (2 years previous)
THAT NIGHT we bumped into Sally in the East Village
-- k, wait, that's weird but not weird enough-
Sally and i hung out for a few months after that but fell out of touch again (this is all pre-cell phone days)
my friend visits about a year later and asks about 'Sally' - i was like 'we hung out for a bit, but i haven't seen her in awhile'
AGAIN, we bump into her that night

true story
 

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