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How To Opt Out of Facebook Ads Based on Your Real-Life Shopping Activity

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Re: How To Opt Out of Facebook Ads Based on Your Real-Life Shopping Activity

#11

Post by clarkm »

Even though I use ghostery and provide unique email addresses to websites I don't trust, I still feel a bit uneasy about voluntarily providing my personal information to these companies just so I can "opt out". I know these sites are legitimate, and I trust the EFF; however, it still feels unnecessary.

Maybe I've just been conditioned by the fake unsubscribe links found in email spam, but I don't want to accidentally give these advertisers more information than they already have. Even if they already have complete information on me (which they undoubtedly do), I don't want to provide them with unnecessary confirmation that the information they have is correct.

Re: How To Opt Out of Facebook Ads Based on Your Real-Life Shopping Activity

#13

Post by D9u »

There's always the option to delete your FB account. I went nearly 10 months without logging into FB last year, and doing so made it quite easy to delete my FB account at the beginning of this year.

Regular removal of cookies, and LSO cookies, as well as clearing the browser cache, is also recommended.

Then there's the ubiquitous "Connect" buttons which are spammed all across the web. Prudence dictates that we avoid connecting our logins across the net in an indiscriminate manner.

Finally, there are "burner" email addresses which I use only to register with certain websites. Nearly all of the spam that makes it past my filters is from so-called "legitimate" websites.

Caveat emptor.

Re: How To Opt Out of Facebook Ads Based on Your Real-Life Shopping Activity

#14

Post by sillysaurus »

troymc wrote: post #12

Another line of defense it to install an ad-blocker, so even if they somehow know the perfect ad to show you, you probably won't see it.

Another line of defense it to install an ad-blocker, so even if Facebook somehow knows the perfect ad to show you, you probably won't see it.

Why wouldn't you want to see it? A perfect ad is a win for the consumer.

Re: How To Opt Out of Facebook Ads Based on Your Real-Life Shopping Activity

#16

Post by _seininn »

sillysaurus wrote: post #7
HunterV wrote: post #2

One thing this shows is just how powerful Facebook could become/already is. When they connect the dots online and offline of billion user's buying information and habits they essentially can electronically understand who you are better than you do, and can predict what you'll do even better. Just food for thought.

When Facebook connects the dots online and offline of billion users' buying information and habits, they essentially can electronically understand who you are better than you do, and can predict what you'll do even better. Why are people disturbed by this?

If a person is well understood and their actions can be predicted, they can be manipulated.

The real question is: why aren't you?

Re: How To Opt Out of Facebook Ads Based on Your Real-Life Shopping Activity

#17

Post by ordinary »

D9u wrote: post #13

There's always the option to delete your FB account. I went nearly 10 months without logging into FB last year, and doing so made it quite easy to delete my FB account at the beginning of this year. Regular removal of cookies, and LSO cookies, as well as clearing the browser cache, is also recommended. Then there's the ubiquitous "Connect" buttons which are spammed all across the web. Prudence dictates that we avoid…

Deleting your account does not stop Facebook from tracking you, unfortunately.

Re: How To Opt Out of Facebook Ads Based on Your Real-Life Shopping Activity

#18

Post by byoogle »

w1ntermute wrote: post #4

I highly recommend Ghostery. I've been using it for quite a while now and have no complaints.

Lifehacker just did a comparison of popular privacy extensions and called Disconnect the best (over Ghostery and others): http://lifehacker.com/the-best-browser-extensions-that-prote...

Re: How To Opt Out of Facebook Ads Based on Your Real-Life Shopping Activity

#19

Post by jiggy2011 »

sillysaurus wrote: post #14
troymc wrote: post #12

Another line of defense it to install an ad-blocker, so even if they somehow know the perfect ad to show you, you probably won't see it.

Another line of defense it to install an ad-blocker, so even if Facebook somehow knows the perfect ad to show you, you probably won't see it. Why wouldn't you want to see it? A perfect ad is a win for the consumer.

Depends on your definition of "perfect", there are certainly a lot of highly effective ads that persuade people to buy borderline scammy products.

Re: How To Opt Out of Facebook Ads Based on Your Real-Life Shopping Activity

#20

Post by sillysaurus »

_seininn wrote: post #16
sillysaurus wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When Facebook connects the dots online and offline of billion users' buying information and habits, they essentially can electronically understand who you are better than you do, and can predict what you'll do even better. Why are people disturbed by this?

If a person is well understood and their actions can be predicted, they can be manipulated. The real question is: why aren't you?

If I'm manipulated into buying something that I genuinely want, then I'd be happier for it.

It's not as if seeing an ad for a $100 256GB SSD would make me skip looking up the reviews for it and evaluating its performance before I buy it.

It's mystifying to me why people are bothered by targeted ads. If ads become relevant to me, that'd be a wonderful thing. I'm not saying I'm right -- I'm saying I wish someone would explain why targeted advertising is evil.

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