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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?

#81

Post by raintrees »

eip wrote: post #63
adtechperson wrote: post #24

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…

> they will show ads on her devices based on your behavior (and vice versa). She went house hunting and watched kung fu movies. Has nothing to do with the partners behavior. Most android (CIAlphabet) phones have CIABook installed by default and it cannot be turned off or deleted without root access. Both listen to microphone and probably take random photos. The phones are both linked to credit cards which are probabl…

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 be interesting (and were not about products or services, per se) being brought to his attention by advertisers, as well as other behavior he thought was innocuous but instead resulted in yet more data gathered about him.

It is my understanding he is piecing together different services to allow the pager to still be able to communicate (eventually) via IM with the right hand-offs involving services who rank privacy/no-tracking towards the top of their service offering.

There is some interest among his peers to offer this as a service, for those who might find this idea desirable. Apparently there are refurbished pagers available for purchase that can be used in this way.

He has jokingly referred to it as a "Hi-Tech detox" process...

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

#82

Post by soared »

I work in advertising (check my post history).

Likely this is just "household extension". How it works:

1. You visit my website on your phone 2. I can now send ads to your phone, but not your desktop 3. I enable cross-device targeting 4. I can now send ads to your phone, laptop, and work computer 5. I enable household extension 6. I can now send ads to any device associated with your household (your girlfriend's phone and laptop, your son's tablet, etc.)

The more likely explanation (for the kung fu stuff) is just random chance. You get like 500 ads a day, so some of those will coincidentally line up with things you've recently done.

But your behavior (watching a kung fu movie) might have gotten you or your household added to a 3rd party audience for interest in karate, and then you get karate ads. Same for open houses - there are data providers who sell the audience "user has been to an open house recently" or more likely just "in-market for real estate services"

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

#83

Post by PragmaticPost »

adtechperson wrote: post #24

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…

Well there goes Christmas shopping.

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

#85

Post by adamrezich »

raintrees wrote: post #81
eip wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> they will show ads on her devices based on your behavior (and vice versa). She went house hunting and watched kung fu movies. Has nothing to do with the partners behavior. Most android (CIAlphabet) phones have CIABook installed by default and it cannot be turned off or deleted without root access. Both listen to microphone and probably take random photos. The phones are both linked to credit cards which are probabl…

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.

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

#86

Post by jackgolding »

patcheudor wrote: post #41
adtechperson wrote: post #24

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…

This is the correct answer. We noticed this happening in our small lab and decided to run some tests and in fact if one person searched for something odd like 'Swedish fish' then visited sites selling Swedish fish, everyone in the lab would start to get ads for candy and snack food. Similarly, searching for "mountain bike" would result in everyone else seeing ads for bikes and bike accessories. It sort of became a ga…

We get this all the time in our office for salesforce (half of our team uses it.)

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

#87

Post by jackgolding »

dogma1138 wrote: post #58
philwelch wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That has some super creepy implications--imagine the father of a teenage girl wondering why he's suddenly seeing so many internet ads for maternity products, for instance.

How Target Figured Out A Teen Girl Was Pregnant Before Her Father Did: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/02/16/how-targ...

Great story but apparently its a hoax:

https://www.kdnuggets.com/2014/05/target-predict-teen-pregna...

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

#88

Post by janesvilleseo »

adtechperson wrote: post #24

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…

I believe Google does this for suggested search. I’ve noticed that my suggested search is eerily spot on for my current conversation with someone who is searching or just searched for something that I too am now searching for.

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

#89

Post by jones1618 »

Last Summer, I was on a Boy Scout trip and opened Facebook Messenger and it had PRE-FILLED the text of a message with "At terminal w/ Bobby waiting to board." The spooky thing is that it somehow knew:

1) I was at the airport (OK, not so hard, maybe using WiFi or GPS). 2) So was my friend's son, Bobby (who I wasn't directly FB friends with). 3) We were at a gate waiting for our plane..

Here's the thing: I hadn't posted any kind of itinerary or booked the flights myself. So, if FB was just "guessing" and did this every time a friend-of-a-friend was at the same place, you'd constantly be paired up with relative strangers crossing paths nearby.

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

#90

Post by earenndil »

rurcliped wrote: post #76

Suppose I operate a small general practitioner healthcare facility that often has only two patients at the same time. If I offer free Wi-Fi in the waiting area, should I consider that a HIPAA violation, because I'm reasonably confident that one patient will see ads related to the other patient's medical condition?

Disclaimer: IANAL. But, probably: no. The ad company is the one at fault, as it is showing a patient an ad related to someone else's condition. You're not the one showing the ad,
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