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Big data is creepy data

IronWing

No Lifer
Jul 20, 2001
72,899
34,002
136
My wife was pumping gas at one of those stations that has the annoying as f' pumps with the ad display. Fortunately, this one had a mute button. Anyway, one of the ads was for "service for your Buick" with a picture of the very model we own. She wasn't driving the Buick at the time as it is in the shop so it wasn't like there was a camera on the pump recognizing the car*. Big data is watching you.


* I suppose that's next. "You look like you could use a haircut and gym membership!"
 

balloonshark

Diamond Member
Jun 5, 2008
7,148
3,622
136
Scary times. And my friends and family wonder why I have my selfie camera blocked on my mobile devices.

I'm also frequently noticing youtube suggestions about the topics we discuss when I'm visiting.

Another creepy example. I just got this email from my new credit card.

Paribus from Capital One® checks for price drops on your online purchases and gets you money back, effortlessly.

Sign up with your
email address

We safely scan your
inbox for receipts.

Get money back if we
find a price drop.

No hidden fees—
Paribus is 100% free.
 

cytg111

Lifer
Mar 17, 2008
26,230
15,639
136
Yea... since getting an iphone ive gotten a lot of creepy ads as well.
 
Feb 4, 2009
35,862
17,403
136
Yea... since getting an iphone ive gotten a lot of creepy ads as well.

I find android phones way creepier with the ads.
Personal opinion they both spy on you.
My logic is at its heart google is an ad company
Apple is a hardware company
 
Nov 8, 2012
20,842
4,785
146
So ultimately what are they trying to do here? Say to you "We understand what it's like to be you because here is YOUR car in our ad!"

Do people feel personally connected and more probable to engage with the advertised product/service? I'm sure there is some psychology studies that says "yes" but I just personally don't buy it.
 
Feb 4, 2009
35,862
17,403
136
So ultimately what are they trying to do here? Say to you "We understand what it's like to be you because here is YOUR car in our ad!"

Do people feel personally connected and more probable to engage with the advertised product/service? I'm sure there is some psychology studies that says "yes" but I just personally don't buy it.

The way it could happen is it knows what car you have by email address, it know what credit card you have by email address and it serve you an ad tailored to your car.
Creepy but not that creepy.
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
70,605
13,810
126
www.anyf.ca
It's really getting creepy, and now they are pushing for face recognition. All the crap that follows you online will follow you offline too. Sounds like it's already there. Guessing in the case of the gas station it goes by license plate, since it's registered under you so they know what other cars you own too. But soon it will just go by your face... unless they're already doing that.
 
Feb 4, 2009
35,862
17,403
136
It's really getting creepy, and now they are pushing for face recognition. All the crap that follows you online will follow you offline too. Sounds like it's already there. Guessing in the case of the gas station it goes by license plate, since it's registered under you so they know what other cars you own too. But soon it will just go by your face... unless they're already doing that.

See above, I think it is email/credit card thing or in this case just a coincidence.
Yes facial recognition will be super creepy and it is coming.
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
70,605
13,810
126
www.anyf.ca
See above, I think it is email/credit card thing or in this case just a coincidence.
Yes facial recognition will be super creepy and it is coming.

But how would they have your credit or email before you finish pumping and go pay? The only thing they really have at that point when you're at the pump itself is your physical info such as your car or face. Unless they are doing some kind of high power "tap pay" to query the card in your pocket.
 

IronWing

No Lifer
Jul 20, 2001
72,899
34,002
136
But how would they have your credit or email before you finish pumping and go pay? The only thing they really have at that point when you're at the pump itself is your physical info such as your car or face. Unless they are doing some kind of high power "tap pay" to query the card in your pocket.
Canada doesn't have pay-at-the-pump where you have to insert the CC before you pump?
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
70,605
13,810
126
www.anyf.ca
Canada doesn't have pay-at-the-pump where you have to insert the CC before you pump?

Oh right in the states you have to pay before. I always forget that. I still find that odd. I never know how much litres I need I just pump until it stops, then I go inside to pay that amount, I find it's easier. Usually grab a coffee or chocolate bar on the way out. I just spent like $100 what's another $2. :p
 

IronWing

No Lifer
Jul 20, 2001
72,899
34,002
136
Oh right in the states you have to pay before. I always forget that. I still find that odd. I never know how much litres I need I just pump until it stops, then I go inside to pay that amount, I find it's easier. Usually grab a coffee or chocolate bar on the way out. I just spent like $100 what's another $2. :p
With pay-at-pump, you insert the card to begin which gets a pre-authorization from the bank. Then you pump and the charge is finalized when you finish pumping.
 

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
53,643
6,527
126
With pay-at-pump, you insert the card to begin which gets a pre-authorization from the bank. Then you pump and the charge is finalized when you finish pumping.
Yeah and you can buy all your shit WHILE your gas is pumping. That's like 5 minutes saved every trip! That shit adds up!
 

cytg111

Lifer
Mar 17, 2008
26,230
15,639
136
I find android phones way creepier with the ads.
Personal opinion they both spy on you.
My logic is at its heart google is an ad company
Apple is a hardware company
Maybe its cause I came from a shitold galaxy s5... but this device has deduced all on its own that I snore, some other personal artifacts, it knows if I am window glazing something and it picks up on words through conversations not even over the phone. What the actual fuck???
 

cytg111

Lifer
Mar 17, 2008
26,230
15,639
136
But how would they have your credit or email before you finish pumping and go pay? The only thing they really have at that point when you're at the pump itself is your physical info such as your car or face. Unless they are doing some kind of high power "tap pay" to query the card in your pocket.
You dont think they are able to crossreference license plates with creditcards with purchases with.... and build up an odds based virtual family household of your existence? These ad targeting systems knows you better than you know your self or who your wife is having an affair with. Creepy.
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
70,605
13,810
126
www.anyf.ca
You dont think they are able to crossreference license plates with creditcards with purchases with.... and build up an odds based virtual family household of your existence? These ad targeting systems knows you better than you know your self or who your wife is having an affair with. Creepy.

Oh true assuming you've been to that station before which is likely then they could cross reference that data too.
 

rh71

No Lifer
Aug 28, 2001
52,844
1,049
126
The way it could happen is it knows what car you have by email address, it know what credit card you have by email address and it serve you an ad tailored to your car.
Creepy but not that creepy.

Unless the ad only started after he swiped his credit card, I doubt it was personalized. Pure coincidence - how can they do a separate ad for each model car? These ads are all just on a loop from what I've seen.

The technology to stalk us is there, but the implementation is not as pervasive as you think. How far beyond showing us relevant ads in signed-in Chrome are they, really? You think your sleeping phone is listening to you and serving up relevant ads in FB? We would see a ton more evidence by now.

Let's test it out. Everyone proclaim out loud that you need to go buy some tampons today, repeatedly...
 
Last edited:

ShookKnight

Senior member
Dec 12, 2019
646
658
96
If Big Data wasn't always being compromised, I would be OK with it frankly. Firms don't care about keeping your data safe... like, at all.
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
70,605
13,810
126
www.anyf.ca
Unless the ad only started after he swiped his credit card, I doubt it was personalized. Pure coincidence - how can they do a separate ad for each model car? These ads are all just on a loop from what I've seen.

The technology to stalk us is there, but the implementation is not as pervasive as you think. How far beyond showing us relevant ads in signed-in Chrome are they, really? You think your sleeping phone is listening to you and serving up relevant ads in FB? We would see a ton more evidence by now.

Let's test it out. Everyone proclaim out loud that you need to go buy some tampons today, repeatedly...

It's funny since I was talking to my family about how everything spies on us so my mom and sister started talking a lot about cat food to see if we start seeing ads. I'm like "well it's not really THAT simple and don't think it works like that all the time" Sure enough minutes later my sister opens Facebook and the first thing she sees is a catfood ad.
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
70,605
13,810
126
www.anyf.ca
I have adblock on my main computer but I do see ads on my phone, or if I'm on a VM or something where it's a fresh install or otherwise not an every day machine. I've thought of blocking stuff at the DNS/firewall level but now and then some sites that are crapply coded won't play well so it's nice to be able to open a separate browser that has zero extensions to then try whatever it is I'm trying to do.

What I can always do too is just do the blocking but not on all vlans. So if I do need to test something with less variables I can do it off a vlan that does not do the blocking.
 
Nov 8, 2012
20,842
4,785
146
I have adblock on my main computer but I do see ads on my phone, or if I'm on a VM or something where it's a fresh install or otherwise not an every day machine. I've thought of blocking stuff at the DNS/firewall level but now and then some sites that are crapply coded won't play well so it's nice to be able to open a separate browser that has zero extensions to then try whatever it is I'm trying to do.

What I can always do too is just do the blocking but not on all vlans. So if I do need to test something with less variables I can do it off a vlan that does not do the blocking.

PiHole rocks man.
 

nakedfrog

No Lifer
Apr 3, 2001
62,838
19,056
136
If Big Data wasn't always being compromised, I would be OK with it frankly. Firms don't care about keeping your data safe... like, at all.
Well, if they had consequences for the breaches, they'd start caring, but good luck with that :rolleyes:
 

rh71

No Lifer
Aug 28, 2001
52,844
1,049
126
You know what's crazy? A whole bunch of people on a tech forum that are seeing ads :^D
Hey man, I looked into the Raspberry Pi method of whole-house ad blocking but apparently it's not as easily do-able via DNS anymore. Ads on phones... suck. YoutubeTV ads too, but not on my PC where I have adblock installed.

PiHole rocks man.
You're using this and it works through DNS? Even Youtube ads where they serve from the same host as the video?