675
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] danielton@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyz 64 points 1 year ago

I think the point of this post is all the stuff below the email field. Yikes.

[-] deweydecibel@lemmy.world 51 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

That data isn't nothing, either. Over ten years ago, Target was able to use shoppers habits to determine when women were pregnant, sometimes even before the women knew.

https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/magazine/shopping-habits.html

Imagine how much more robust this has gotten 10 years later.

[-] TheGoldenGod@lemmy.world 23 points 1 year ago

Exactly, a damn good reason to avoid the Wi-Fi in stores altogether. So many wifi access points are super weak in security and super sketchy.

I try sticking to my home where I can manage it like a nervous hawk.

[-] Nahvi@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

This is a fantastic read.

I remember febreeze coming out and being like, that would be cool but you can't trust ads and it sounds like total BS. I knew they added a scent, but I had not idea about the subtle social manipulation that they used to shift people's habits.

Speaking of habits, this is the first time I have heard about all the science involved in studying and breaking them.

Thank you for that link. Definitely going to save it.

[-] minorsecond@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago

Would using a VPN remedy this?

[-] theneverfox@pawb.social 2 points 1 year ago

Not really. With https luckily being the default, at most they could get the sites you were going to (I don't think dnss is dead, but it's been very slow to grow unfortunately).

They could probably see if you're checking Amazon or Google, but wouldn't be able to see what you're looking at exactly. Theoretically they could use cameras and or triangulation to see what you're in front of when you use the Internet, but a VPN would still show traffic so they'd know you're looking up something.

The big thing this would do is act like a loyalty card... They give you some amount of benefit in exchange for tracking your purchases in ever higher detail. Mostly it's just like that, except they'd also be able to see how long you are in the store, and ideally they can link it to your purchases so they can infer more about it

FWIW, I wouldn't only consider giving them a disposable email

[-] hperrin@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Now they can tell when women are pregnant before they even have sex.

[-] Taleya@aussie.zone 12 points 1 year ago

Bub, they always did this.

They just tell you that they're doing it now.

I was responding to all the people who said "just use a fake email," bub...

[-] Molecular0079@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Well now they can legally use that data since you now have to agree to the terms.

this post was submitted on 29 Sep 2023
675 points (97.1% liked)

Privacy

31601 readers
340 users here now

A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.

Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.

In this community everyone is welcome to post links and discuss topics related to privacy.

Some Rules

Related communities

Chat rooms

much thanks to @gary_host_laptop for the logo design :)

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS