I know it should be in the geek section
So I sent an email to someone enquiring about their 'personal services' and now my Facebook feed, Google etc is full of adverts for yoga.
I didn't search for them, saw it on a Facebook page for the area I live in, didn't c+p the email link.
The only way anyone could know about it is if they are monitoring my email.
I thought your email was supposed to be safe from this shit!
Would activating my VPN put a stop to this!
Did you hover the mouse pointer over the ad when you were reading it?
It's possible for websites to monitor your mouse movement, if Facebook are doing that they know what you were looking at.
Ditchfinder wrote: ↑Thu Jul 22, 2021 2:05 pm
Is your email address @gMail by any chance?
That's my bet too. BP wouldn't allow it because of it scanning mail input for erm 'context'.
Facebook is a close second - I briefly had it on my laptop but deleted it pretty quickly. I still put the Facebook container on my Firefox though.
All the Google and Facebook stuff is pretty spooky but lots of cookies gather stuff you probably don't want gathered - for 'advertising tailored to you'.
It IS a Gmail account.
It wasn't an ad, just an open post on faceache that I read.
As I said, I didn't c+p the email address.
So basically Google are checking your email, cnuts!
Demannu wrote: ↑Thu Jul 22, 2021 3:49 pm
It IS a Gmail account.
It wasn't an ad, just an open post on faceache that I read.
As I said, I didn't c+p the email address.
So basically Google are checking your email, cnuts!
Um - yes - they've done this for years and it's open knowledge.
You can either accept that this is happening, that we're all just 'data-sources' for them to sell to their advertising clients; or go denounce the modern world, live in a cave and grow your own food, because that's pretty much the only way you'll be free of it.
Demannu wrote: ↑Thu Jul 22, 2021 3:49 pm
It IS a Gmail account.
It wasn't an ad, just an open post on faceache that I read.
As I said, I didn't c+p the email address.
So basically Google are checking your email, cnuts!
3rd party apps can read your gmails too depending on the settings in your google account. You can change the settings to stop them. They look for key words and then provide 'context sensitive' ads.
I think some cookies use your IP/router address too. I sometimes get ads related to what the missus has been looking for/buying using her PC.
Demannu wrote: ↑Thu Jul 22, 2021 3:49 pm
It IS a Gmail account.
It wasn't an ad, just an open post on faceache that I read.
As I said, I didn't c+p the email address.
So basically Google are checking your email, cnuts!
Um - yes - they've done this for years and it's open knowledge.
You can either accept that this is happening, that we're all just 'data-sources' for them to sell to their advertising clients; or go denounce the modern world, live in a cave and grow your own food, because that's pretty much the only way you'll be free of it.
I know this is the real price of free software/services but I don't see why I should just roll over and accept everything they want to push in my direction. Just a few changes to your google account settings, choice of browser and avoiding Facebook/Instagram/Whatsapp isn't exactly a hardship.
For the full dystopian view of the future I recommend reading The Circle.
(Err...didn't you used to work for an on-line marketing oufit Mr Burner? Long time no see, hope all's spiffing with you).
Demannu wrote: ↑Thu Jul 22, 2021 3:49 pm
It IS a Gmail account.
It wasn't an ad, just an open post on faceache that I read.
As I said, I didn't c+p the email address.
So basically Google are checking your email, cnuts!
Um - yes - they've done this for years and it's open knowledge.
You can either accept that this is happening, that we're all just 'data-sources' for them to sell to their advertising clients; or go denounce the modern world, live in a cave and grow your own food, because that's pretty much the only way you'll be free of it.
I know this is the real price of free software/services but I don't see why I should just roll over and accept everything they want to push in my direction. Just a few changes to your google account settings, choice of browser and avoiding Facebook/Instagram/Whatsapp isn't exactly a hardship.
For the full dystopian view of the future I recommend reading The Circle.
(Err...didn't you used to work for an on-line marketing oufit Mr Burner? Long time no see, hope all's spiffing with you).
I did indeed - email marketing to be exact. I'm a little out of date now (hence working for charidee), but it's not like things have become 'better' since...
Good to see you've re-emerged from whatever rock you were hiding under too.
Slenver wrote: ↑Thu Jul 22, 2021 5:09 pm
Simplest answer: just cough up the 3 or 4 quid a year for a 'proper' email address.
Always remember - if you can't obviously see what the product is (on Facebook, Google etc), then it's you.
I have done in the past and would again if it was as simple as 3 or 4 quid, the big attraction with Gmail is it would be around for a long time.
I've bought my own domain in the past to ensure continuity for work but email hosts aren't as cheap as they used to be.
Slenver wrote: ↑Thu Jul 22, 2021 5:09 pm
Simplest answer: just cough up the 3 or 4 quid a year for a 'proper' email address.
Always remember - if you can't obviously see what the product is (on Facebook, Google etc), then it's you.
I have done in the past and would again if it was as simple as 3 or 4 quid, the big attraction with Gmail is it would be around for a long time.
I've bought my own domain in the past to ensure continuity for work but email hosts aren't as cheap as they used to be.
Yeah, it's not as cheap as it was from a quick google. Still, tenner a year then and you get your own personal email domain.
Slenver wrote: ↑Thu Jul 22, 2021 5:09 pm
Simplest answer: just cough up the 3 or 4 quid a year for a 'proper' email address.
Always remember - if you can't obviously see what the product is (on Facebook, Google etc), then it's you.
I have done in the past and would again if it was as simple as 3 or 4 quid, the big attraction with Gmail is it would be around for a long time.
I've bought my own domain in the past to ensure continuity for work but email hosts aren't as cheap as they used to be.
Yeah, it's not as cheap as it was from a quick google. Still, tenner a year then and you get your own personal email domain.
That has privacy issues itself, contact details of domain owners are publicly available. I'm not paying for one of the services that looks cheap and registers a domain for me as they can then hold it to ransom. Another trick email providers do now is charge per email address rather than per domain and forward it on with rules. I've also had problems with paid for email services being blacklisted because someone else on the same service is sending spam. Hopefully there will be a better solution available soon.
Mussels wrote: ↑Thu Jul 22, 2021 6:46 pmThat has privacy issues itself, contact details of domain owners are publicly available.
No, only if you choose to.
Mussels wrote: ↑Thu Jul 22, 2021 6:46 pmI'm not paying for one of the services that looks cheap and registers a domain for me as they can then hold it to ransom. Another trick email providers do now is charge per email address rather than per domain and forward it on with rules. I've also had problems with paid for email services being blacklisted because someone else on the same service is sending spam.
Never heard of these issues. I daresay there are cheap unreliable providers but there are plenty of big ones. It's not like email/domains are new or unusual, every respectable business in the world buys them.
I did see something about domain registration chasing privacy options but didn't look at the details, good that it had improved. The email provider I had trouble with was a big one, might have been Microsoft 365.
It works for businesses at scale but for individuals it can be confusing and expensive, there might be a great service out there but I kept finding better options disappearing frequently.
I have done in the past and would again if it was as simple as 3 or 4 quid, the big attraction with Gmail is it would be around for a long time.
I've bought my own domain in the past to ensure continuity for work but email hosts aren't as cheap as they used to be.
Yeah, it's not as cheap as it was from a quick google. Still, tenner a year then and you get your own personal email domain.
That has privacy issues itself, contact details of domain owners are publicly available. I'm not paying for one of the services that looks cheap and registers a domain for me as they can then hold it to ransom. Another trick email providers do now is charge per email address rather than per domain and forward it on with rules. I've also had problems with paid for email services being blacklisted because someone else on the same service is sending spam. Hopefully there will be a better solution available soon.
Potter wrote: ↑Sat Jul 31, 2021 11:00 am
I'm not really arsed by cyber intrusion, AFAIK it's only as dangerous as offering me stuff I might want to buy but I'm not compelled to.
A mate got invited to Google in 2019, he's a fairly high profile businessman and basically he was invited over so they could show off their prowess, he said it was scary what they knew about him, they had his favourite coffee waiting when he sat down in their office.
I'm addicted to the internet so I can't escape it, I've tried to use it less but I'm an info junkie and it's like having the biggest personal library in the world but not using it - it's impossible to resist.
As long as you're not plotting to do anything dangerous then I don't see much point worrying.
I watched a demo at work where the IT guy had found someone who used a 'rate my beer' website, another website scraped data from there and formatted it. From that it was easy to see where and when the guy went and how much he drunk at what times. He also knew what job the guy did for what company (easily found on other scraping websites) and it would be really simple for someone to randomly rock up in the pub at the right time and causally chat about the right topics in order to find out more.
It's a random example but demonstrated how social media can have unexpected consequences.
I get loads of well targeted spam at work, I haven't given these companies the info and they all go down the friendly route before getting passive aggressive when I ignore them. They are trying to socially engineer me and I wouldn't be surprised if they tried an 'accidental' real life meeting if they knew where I'd be. This includes competitors as well as people just selling stuff.
Long time no see, hope all's spiffing with you).
Re: Email, cookies, privacy!
