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submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by ZenkorSoraz@lemmy.ml to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

What harm does public data have to you? Couldn't one just ignore the ads? You can't see anyone watching you, is public data good for public records? (I'm just curious). I know this sounds weird but is public data good for historical preservation and knowledge increasing the importance of the individual? And does public data lead to better products?

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[-] thantik@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Sometimes not even ignoring the ads is possible because they are vectors for malware as well.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malvertising

There's a whole set of instances in the past where someone was innocently wanting to make a little money from their website, only to have all of their users infected with malware because of it. These instances utilized newly discovered exploits to run without interaction at all. Meaning you can't simply ignore them, even just browsing a page with them was enough to infect people.

Ads aren't just annoying, but they're a vector for malware. And even if they weren't, ignoring them isn't enough to get your brain not to notice them at all. You'll always subconsciously obtain associations of brands, etc. It's literally an invasion of your brain.

this post was submitted on 02 Aug 2023
181 points (82.7% liked)

Privacy

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