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Ask HN: Girlfriend is being shown ads depending on what we do together. How?

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Re: Ask HN: Girlfriend is being shown ads depending on what we do together. How?

#91

I have worked for a number of ad tech companies over the years. If this really is happening (and it seems possible it could be coincidence) the most likely explanation is cross device targeting using IP address. So, most ad tech companies do cross device targeting, using device maps bought from other companies (Drawbridge being one). These companies attempt to assign a variety of devices from the same person to a sin…

its also more than just ip address. if you ever log into each others computers to check mail or any other system that requires a login, that company can sell your (device,username) pair to these cross device companies, and and you get another (device2,username) pair and its decided to be the same person.

https://whotracks.me/trackers/liveramp.html: twitch, okcupid, adobe

https://whotracks.me/trackers/drawbridge.html: etsy, aol, samsung

log into one of those from two devices and anyone who wants to pay will track you as the same person

Re: Ask HN: Girlfriend is being shown ads depending on what we do together. How?

#92

I have worked for a number of ad tech companies over the years. If this really is happening (and it seems possible it could be coincidence) the most likely explanation is cross device targeting using IP address. So, most ad tech companies do cross device targeting, using device maps bought from other companies (Drawbridge being one). These companies attempt to assign a variety of devices from the same person to a sin…

Yes. This is retargeting based on a cross device graph and this experience illustrates ad tech trade-off. We're those ads in a logged-in ad platform like Facebook or were they generic display stuff?

Re: Ask HN: Girlfriend is being shown ads depending on what we do together. How?

#93
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is unreasonable conspiratorial thinking. Please don't believe it.

Except when it is real: https://www.wired.com/2016/11/block-ultrasonic-signals-didnt... https://thehackernews.com/2017/05/ultrasonic-tracking-signal... https://www.wired.com/2017/05/hundreds-apps-can-listen-beaco...

This kind of Ultrasonic tracking i.e listening for a set of specific frequencies that are too high for most humans to perceive is much less complex then actual speech recognition, and consequently much more pragmatic.

Re: Ask HN: Girlfriend is being shown ads depending on what we do together. How?

#94
post #27
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're going to get fingerprinted anyway, might as well save the bandwidth.

Of course, I have nothing against saving bandwidth. I just didn't expect to see an iPhone user non-ironically calling Android users as "regular people" these days. What year is it now? :P

i don't think it was because of the phone but because enraged_camel takes preventative measures to block tracking tools and "normal people" do not. note that it's "on my computers and...." not just "iphone"

Re: Ask HN: Girlfriend is being shown ads depending on what we do together. How?

#95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I cannot attest to the above suggestion that "CIABook" is installed, as I have not reviewed any of the Android source. Instead, I offer different information: I know of a person who is switching back to a pager to avoid smart device-based tracking. This after he received the requested "all information Facebook has about me" and saw how many of the quizzes he took for fun were advertiser-based, articles that seemed to…

I, too, listen to this person in the morning! Maybe attitudes have changed over the years but IIRC his partner isn't very well liked around here.

I find thinking dimensionally helps me understand better...

Re: Ask HN: Girlfriend is being shown ads depending on what we do together. How?

#96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I, too, listen to this person in the morning! Maybe attitudes have changed over the years but IIRC his partner isn't very well liked around here.

I find thinking dimensionally helps me understand better...

I find HN to be a really interesting intersection point of the Dimensions
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