How did the Ad Networks find my search? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) by Tenderizer78@lemmy.ml to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

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So a bit ago I got an add for "canned rambutan". I had looked up Rambutan a few days prior after hearing it mentioned 10 hours into the video game Baby Steps. I wasn't using a VPN at the time and I didn't have fingerprinting protections active but I only mentioned it to a few sources (according to my browser history) all of which generally are implied to be private.

Which of these do you think is the reason the ad networks know?

Wikipedia
Startpage Search
Duckduckgo Search
My ISP
Firefox
My Firefox Extensions
Kubuntu
CachyOS
The omnipotent algorithm connecting my mentions of Baby Steps with my progress through the game.
Does this only make sense if my browser history is incomplete?
Maybe I was using DNS over HTTPS via Cloudflare at the time of my search.

Any guesses as to where the weak link is?

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[-] PiraHxCx@lemmy.ml 1 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Aren't they seeing all the urls you access?

[-] ivn@jlai.lu 17 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

No, unless you browse http website. They'll only see the domain name in the request SNI or during the DNS request.

[-] pHr34kY@lemmy.world 0 points 6 days ago

...and if you use DoH, they won't even see DNS.

I would argue that you don't need a VPN. It's just another entity that can see your traffic, and there's no reason to trust them over your ISP. They're all for-profit companies.

[-] Skankhunt420@sh.itjust.works 3 points 5 days ago

https://www.pcmag.com/news/mullvad-vpn-hit-with-search-warrant-in-attempted-police-raid

Yeah you're right man the VPN that got raided and proven to keep no logs is the exact same as ATT that helped the NSA spy on everyone in the USA and has your credit card and address on file.

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/how-att-helped-the-nsa-spy-on-millions/

Sure something like NordVPN wouldn't be trustworthy but come on, saying all VPNs are just as trustworthy as ISPs is absolutely insane

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this post was submitted on 02 Dec 2025

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