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Off-Facebook activity

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Re: Off-Facebook activity

#162
post #12

In my profile, they managed to obtain a `PURCHASE` event from Macy's -- for an in-person purchase at a physical store . Macy's has my email address and certainly linked it to my credit card number, but this is nonetheless seriously creepy. I just tried to change my email address on Facebook and discovered that they canonicalize plus and dot variations in gmail.com addresses, and thus claim that the new email address…

I saw the same for Gap inc for a list of in-store purchases at Old Navy. Incredibly on the nose about how screwed privacy is going to be soon.

old navy is owned by gap - not sure if this counts..

Re: Off-Facebook activity

#163
post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's the card network (MasterCard, Visa, AE) that sells your data. They each have their own op out: * https://marketingreportoptout.visa.com/OPTOUT/request.do * https://www.mastercard.us/en-us/about-mastercard/what-we-do/... .

Are these datas for sale in Europe as well?

With VISA and MasterCard yes, but e.g. the German girocard network on its own doesn’t sell anything, and there it depends on your bank (and most banks don’t sell that data either).

So if you have the choice between using a girocard or a credit/debit card to buy a product, the credit/debit card is significantly more likely to sell all your data.

Re: Off-Facebook activity

#164
post #111
post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

are credit cards different from debit cards in this regard? Do some credit cards not sell your transactions?

It's the card network (MasterCard, Visa, AE) that sells your data. They each have their own op out: * https://marketingreportoptout.visa.com/OPTOUT/request.do * https://www.mastercard.us/en-us/about-mastercard/what-we-do/... .

It’s crazy that they do this yet still charge nearly 3%.

Re: Off-Facebook activity

#165
post #12

In my profile, they managed to obtain a `PURCHASE` event from Macy's -- for an in-person purchase at a physical store . Macy's has my email address and certainly linked it to my credit card number, but this is nonetheless seriously creepy. I just tried to change my email address on Facebook and discovered that they canonicalize plus and dot variations in gmail.com addresses, and thus claim that the new email address…

It’s not a situation where FB “managed to obtain”. It’s Macy’s directly uploading transactions in order to attribute purchases to their online ad campaigns. It uses email and name etc to match.

I agree.

While its easy to point at Facebook and say "they are so creepy" - this sounds like the type of challenge every marketing department faces. "What is the attribution of X,Y,Z ad campaigns?"

Connecting purchase + email + 'where the ad happened' via social solves that.

Re: Off-Facebook activity

#166
post #102
post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does one do this?

Specifically, how do you do it on a normal Android device? Is it even possible to do this on an iOS device that's on 4G or someone else's wifi? Do iOS devices have the same "leak"?

> Is it even possible to do this on an iOS device that's on 4G

No.

> Is it even possible to do this on an iOS device that's on [...] someone else's wifi

Yes, since you can do it on your device, and do not have to do it on the router. Drawback is you have to do it for each Wifi network anew.

> Do iOS devices have the same "leak"

Yes, there is nothing that prevents apps from phoning home (or phoning every one of a dozen data collection "partners")

Re: Off-Facebook activity

#167
Clearly they’ve come to the realization that they either do this voluntarily or future regulation will force them to do it. The beginning of the end of hyper-targeted online advertising has started.

Re: Off-Facebook activity

#168

Allegedly, I ditched my Facebook account years ago. Not just deactivated but delete, though I don’t really believe it. Is there anyway to see what’s in this (or to see if my account really is gone) without accidentally re-upping?

I had deactivated my account about a year ago. I tried logging in to view this page, and it reactivated everything immediately. Also, it has clearly been linking a vast quantity of off-facebook activity despite my account being deactivated.

Re: Off-Facebook activity

#169

Allegedly, I ditched my Facebook account years ago. Not just deactivated but delete, though I don’t really believe it. Is there anyway to see what’s in this (or to see if my account really is gone) without accidentally re-upping?

Depending on your location, but you could do a GDPR Data Subject Request (DSR)

Re: Off-Facebook activity

#170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s not a situation where FB “managed to obtain”. It’s Macy’s directly uploading transactions in order to attribute purchases to their online ad campaigns. It uses email and name etc to match.

I agree. While its easy to point at Facebook and say "they are so creepy" - this sounds like the type of challenge every marketing department faces. "What is the attribution of X,Y,Z ad campaigns?" Connecting purchase + email + 'where the ad happened' via social solves that.

"Attribution" in this sense is always going to be the enemy of privacy, because it boils down to the question of "what was on your screen when you decided to make this purchase".
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