WTF Google?

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olds

olds

Elite Member
Mar 3, 2000
50,102
772
126
Wife and I were watch Goliath last night. On my phone, I googled the motel Billy Bob Thornton's character stays in.
Today, on my wife's phone, she got served an ad with info on the same motel. :wtf:
 
blackangst1

blackangst1

Lifer
Feb 23, 2005
22,902
2,359
126
I remember doing research on a very specific product *on my home PC* and ads showing up on my Facebook on my phone...
 
Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
69,825
13,398
126
www.anyf.ca
I see stuff like this all the time, it's freaky as hell. They have way too much granular access to your life now. There's no laws for this kind of thing so they will just continue to find every possible way to exploit us.

If you have an android phone (and probably Apple does it too) they also listen to your conversations and sell the info to advertisers. If I find myself on a computer or VM where I didn't install an adblocker yet, I will tend to see lot of ads based on IRL conversations. They have ways to link everything you do, to you/your account, even across different computers and networks. Ex: search for something at home, and you'll see ads for it at work.

The most notable one was one time I was at work and got an alarm for a burnt light bulb in a communication tower. So I made a ticket for it and just casually mentioned how cool it would be to climb one of those.

Later that day I go on Facebook and see a job ad for the company that climbs our towers.
 
FeuerFrei

FeuerFrei

Diamond Member
Mar 30, 2005
9,144
929
126
What if some intolerant type got in power at Google and wanted to use this data to discriminate against us? Knowledge is power.
Making money is not a permissible reason for businesses to snoop our private details / conversations. As Cartman would say: Respect Mah Privacah!
 
ultimatebob

ultimatebob

Lifer
Jul 1, 2001
25,134
2,450
126
Dude, those phones have GPS sensors and Google has access to them unless you explicitly denied access to it during installation. Even without it, they can figure out your location from what Wi-Fi hotspot you connect to.

I get Google Maps directions to places that my wife did searches on all the time, and we use separate GMail accounts. Google just KNOWS, man.
 
Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
69,825
13,398
126
www.anyf.ca
FeuerFrei said:
What if some intolerant type got in power at Google and wanted to use this data to discriminate against us? Knowledge is power.
Making money is not a permissible reason for businesses to snoop our private details / conversations. As Cartman would say: Respect Mah Privacah!
Click to expand...

I'm sure this happens already. Plenty of stories of people getting detained at borders because of something they said or did online. Chances are all your data is linked together in a central database either owned by Google or another company/companies that buys info from other companies. A single license plate reader that dips into the database + uses face recognition to see the driver could pretty much know everything about the person in a car driving by. I could see a future where electronic bill boards use targeted advertising. The tech is pretty much there.
 
Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
69,825
13,398
126
www.anyf.ca
ultimatebob said:
Dude, those phones have GPS sensors and Google has access to them unless you explicitly denied access to it during installation. Even without it, they can figure out your location from what Wi-Fi hotspot you connect to.

I get Google Maps directions to places that my wife did searches on all the time, and we use separate GMail accounts. Google just KNOWS, man.
Click to expand...

I always find it freaky when I get a random alert on my phone "how was your visit at Tim Hortons?" an hour after I've been back. I always keep location services off unless I need it but that does not really matter. If you do keep it on, it's crazy how often it's reading your location, you can see the little dish icon show up in the alert section. It is constantly pinging.
 
sandorski

sandorski

No Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
70,657
6,225
126
Bought things Online and even at a Store, Ads of similar products started popping up while on Internet within hours.
 
W

who?

Platinum Member
Sep 1, 2012
2,327
42
91
I've never paid Google for anything, they have to make money somehow.
 
Carson Dyle

Carson Dyle

Diamond Member
Jul 2, 2012
8,173
524
126
Facebook is just about the only site on which I purposely allow ads. My ad blocker is capable of blocking them, but I allow them for a couple of reasons:

* Their targeting is good. I'll see ads for products that I've never heard of before but that I _am_ interested in.

* I find it fascinating to know just how thoroughly my web browsing is being tracked, despite all my script blockers and other browser add-ons to combat that sort of thing. These ads are pretty good indicator that I wouldn't have otherwise.

Just a minute ago on facebook I saw a sponsored ad for Volvo construction equipment. A week or two ago I remember checking out Volvo's site looking for info on an excavator that I saw in a YouTube video.
 
Kaido

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
50,185
6,415
136
Red Squirrel said:
If you have an android phone (and probably Apple does it too) they also listen to your conversations and sell the info to advertisers. If I find myself on a computer or VM where I didn't install an adblocker yet, I will tend to see lot of ads based on IRL conversations. They have ways to link everything you do, to you/your account, even across different computers and networks. Ex: search for something at home, and you'll see ads for it at work.
Click to expand...

100%. I've documented this not once but twice, actually. Last time was for a very specific toy we were discussing (electric self-balancing unicycle) at one of my work sites. Nobody searched for it, but we did mention the brand by name (Swagtron). I got home & there was an ad on Facebook on my phone for exactly the product we had talked about. Vocal capture with cross-network tracking. It's legit scary stuff.

/puts on tinfoil hat
 
Kaido

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
50,185
6,415
136
Carson Dyle said:
* Their targeting is good. I'll see ads for products that I've never heard of before but that I _am_ interested in.
Click to expand...

Yup, absolutely. I mostly use Facebook for the great cooking groups they have (Instant Pot, sous vide, etc.). I got an ad for something random that I had never heard of before, but ended up buying:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0049NQEKO

It's a plastic V-shape Ziploc bag clamp. I mostly work in the kitchen by myself & often load ingredients into plastic bags to either sous vide, refrigerate, or freeze. This gets annoying when my hands are messy after cutting up chicken or whatever, because then I have to touch the outside of the bag & contaminate the exterior. This little product perfectly solved the problem, and I didn't even know it existed before!
 
Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
69,825
13,398
126
www.anyf.ca
It is indeed crazy how they can still track you despite all the tracking blocking scripts. I use privacy badger and an ad blocker but that does not stop most of the tracking. I sometimes wonder how much these tracking mechanisms know about my internal network and other private stuff. Like how far can they track, can they see my files, NFS shares? I sometimes consider building a somewhat air gapped network for all my important stuff and just having a separate VM/computer for actual internet usage. The issue is this would mostly require a KVM of sorts and every single KVM I've tried sucks hardcore. They lock up all the time, they take long to switch etc. And I don't have room for multiple computers/keyboards/mice on my desk.
 
Kaido

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
50,185
6,415
136
Red Squirrel said:
It is indeed crazy how they can still track you despite all the tracking blocking scripts. I use privacy badger and an ad blocker but that does not stop most of the tracking. I sometimes wonder how much these tracking mechanisms know about my internal network and other private stuff. Like how far can they track, can they see my files, NFS shares?
Click to expand...

Have fun
Red Squirrel said:
I sometimes consider building a somewhat air gapped network for all my important stuff
Click to expand...

Air-gap is hackable
Red Squirrel said:
I just having a separate VM/computer
Click to expand...

It's possible to escape a VM to the host
Red Squirrel said:
for actual internet usage.
Click to expand...

Neverware makes ChromeOS (think Chromebook) for third-party devices, including VMware (i.e. virtual Chromebook to isolate the Internet). Also check out Avast's Secure Browser & Sandbox.
Red Squirrel said:
The issue is this would mostly require a KVM of sorts and every single KVM I've tried sucks hardcore. They lock up all the time, they take long to switch etc. And I don't have room for multiple computers/keyboards/mice on my desk.
Click to expand...

If you have an extra monitor, check out Synergy
 
Last edited:
D

Darwin333

Lifer
Dec 11, 2006
19,946
2,329
126
FeuerFrei said:
What if some intolerant type got in power at Google and wanted to use this data to discriminate against us? Knowledge is power.
Making money is not a permissible reason for businesses to snoop our private details / conversations. As Cartman would say: Respect Mah Privacah!
Click to expand...

Nothing is free...
 
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