Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Facebook will show ads to non-Facebook users on other websites

wsj.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 141 posts

Re: Facebook will show ads to non-Facebook users on other websites

#22

Post by dzek69 »

It did years ago :) When i didn't had account they already know my name, mail, telephone number, because some idiots gave them their mails login & passwords, allowing FB to read all contacts.

I wasn't on Facebook, yet in the "hey, join FB" message they listed 6 of "people I know that are already of Facebook".

So imagine how much data they got about me: 1) No account on FB 2) But FB tracked me with their cookies on almost every page, because almost every page has some FB widget (fanpage box, like buttons etc) 3) They know "some-random-guy-9348239849" likes to browse pages A, B, C, D, which means he likes AA, AB, BA, BB, BC, CA, DA activities 4) Then people start giving away "their" data about me. A lot of them did, so FB could connect who I know, and their connections with each other. 5) So FB got "my-name-PERSONAL_DATA", not associated with the data from point 3. 6) I got that message 7) If I'd click the welcoming link, then I wouldn't even need to register - FB then could connect that "some-random-guy" data with "my-name" data.

This probably goes even deeper, but we just don't know that.

Facebook with that message told me way too much about how much they know about unregistered users, I bet they don't do this anymore :)

Re: Facebook will show ads to non-Facebook users on other websites

#23

Post by Drakim »

sdoering wrote: post #10
eknkc wrote: post #3

Surprised they weren't doing that already. Facebook has javascript injected on a lot of sites, always assumed that they'd collect a shit ton of data whether you are a user or not. Also, all ad blockers block google analytics like tracking services but social plugins are generally opt in. I guess they should be blocked by default too.

I know a lot of AdBlocking Tools/List that do not block Google Analytics or Adobe Analytics by default. Do you know the ones that do?

You are stealing from the websites and content creators who needs to track and exploit your personal information to provide the internet as we know it today. /s

Re: Facebook will show ads to non-Facebook users on other websites

#26

Post by bballer »

sdoering wrote: post #10
eknkc wrote: post #3

Surprised they weren't doing that already. Facebook has javascript injected on a lot of sites, always assumed that they'd collect a shit ton of data whether you are a user or not. Also, all ad blockers block google analytics like tracking services but social plugins are generally opt in. I guess they should be blocked by default too.

I know a lot of AdBlocking Tools/List that do not block Google Analytics or Adobe Analytics by default. Do you know the ones that do?

Just to add to the others comments, get NoScript and you can control exactly who gets to run Javascript at all times. It makes the internet so much safer and you will be blown away at how many domains some sites are trying to run scripts from.

Re: Facebook will show ads to non-Facebook users on other websites

#28

Post by deprave »

astazangasta wrote: post #17

Again, I deplore the colossal waste of human effort and talent that is going into building a sophisticated panopticon for the noble purpose of better targeted advertising . For fuck's sake, what a waste of the best minds of our generation.

Of course this comment was downvoted.

I really want to know what's the opposing view to this statement. Who's going to step forward and say why they think this is wrong?

At the very least, make an argument like "the AI needed to trick a teenager into spending half their awake time on Facebook can also be used to solve actual problems."

Re: Facebook will show ads to non-Facebook users on other websites

#29

Post by tommeader »

bdz wrote: post #13
sdoering wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know a lot of AdBlocking Tools/List that do not block Google Analytics or Adobe Analytics by default. Do you know the ones that do?

uBlock Origin + EFF Privacy Badger is a really powerful combo and works fine

Isn't that overkill? EFF Privacy Badger states that it's a one-extension solution rather than having ghostery, adblock + others: https://www.eff.org/privacybadger (2nd FAQ)

I've never tried Privacy Badger myself, what's your reasoning for having both? Is it not quite as all-encompassing as it claims?

Re: Facebook will show ads to non-Facebook users on other websites

#30

Post by pcora »

sdoering wrote: post #8
userbinator wrote: post #5

while non-Facebook members can opt-out through the Digital Advertising Alliance in the US, the Digital Advertising Alliance in Canada, and the European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance in Europe. Or you can just block all requests to their domains. I have *.facebook.com and a few others blocked.

wc -l /etc/hosts == 11846 About 90% are blocked sites. The rest is local (privat and business) dev configuration.

serious question, doesn't having such a big hosts file affects performance somehow?
Post reply on HN