173

What reasons are there for being concerned about companies like google and meta etc collecting data and tracking me? (lemmy.world)

submitted 10 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

98 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Please understandnim asking this question from a genuine place. I dont want the quora answer, i want the tech savvy, security expert minds of my fellow lemmings. If thats ok?

What happens to this data? What can/do they do with it? and why are so many people concerned about google tracking them?

Do i as an average user need to be concerned?

If so, What sorts of things can i do to avoid being tracked? Preferably without too much comprimise.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] [email protected] 60 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Just a personal story to bring one example into focus.

I got sober 8 years ago and never talked about it online until I was about 4 years sober. Never saw a single promotion for anything related to alcohol...

Until the day I made a single comment on Reddit telling my story to help support another person who was just starting their own sobriety journey.

And like magic, all promoted communities to me were alcohol related. Even though I'm an ublock user, when I would selectively disable it every advertisement I saw online was related to booze.

So even though there are ethical applications for my data, I found that it was used in an attempt to target me based on human frailties.

[-] [email protected] 15 points 10 months ago

I think that's just really shitty targeted advertising, not surprising on Reddit lol

[-] [email protected] 10 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Reddit wasn't even the worst offender.

I made two posts one on asshole design and one on dangerous design and they cumulatively got something like 7,000 up votes and then "magically" the problem was fixed on reddit!

[+] [email protected] -19 points 10 months ago

I found that it was used in an attempt to target me based on human frailties.

This doesn't even make sense. It'd be much more lucrative to target multiple things you speak fondly about it or have expressed personal interest in by actively searching.

[-] [email protected] 28 points 10 months ago

If you enjoy something you buy it occasionally. If you are addicted you buy it every day, every time you have money, you think about it all the time. That's way more lucrative, it's the whole business model of the tobacco industry too.

[-] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

That definitely doesn't describe how I act with nicotine, and I'm ABSOLUTELY addicted to nicotine.

I could say the same for alcohol, but I'm a very mild alcoholic.

[-] [email protected] 14 points 10 months ago

Things we need are higher on our priorities than things we want, and addiction convinces you that you need that thing. So anything that can monetize that addiction is going to be more effective and consistent than something you merely want.

[-] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

Keyword based advertising is overly simple

this post was submitted on 01 Nov 2023

173 points (94.4% liked)

Ask Lemmy

26249 readers

1472 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Rules: (interactive)

1) Be nice and; have fun

Doxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them

2) All posts must end with a '?'

This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?

3) No spam

Please do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.

4) NSFW is okay, within reason

Just remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either [email protected] or [email protected]. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].

5) This is not a support community.

It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email [email protected]. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.

Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu

founded 1 year ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]