1. Lae

    Lae Contributor Contributor

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    Internet privacy

    Discussion in 'Writing Software and Hardware' started by Lae, Mar 12, 2014.

    Visited a motorbike shop this morning on my phone and now I'm being constantly bombarded with images and prices of the items I viewed.

    I understand the need for banners and ad revenue but does anyone else thing this is a tad too far?

    Seems a common thing now, I've even seen a few on here. I liken it to a shop assistant following me down the highstreet with a pair of shoes that I might have looked at, constantly badgering me, asking me to buy.

    The tiny bit of privacy we had left on the internet has gone, and now they're imposing on my hobbys
     
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  2. jazzabel

    jazzabel Agent Provocateur Contributor

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    As far as intrusiveness of adverts is concerned, I think we just need to evolve more effective filters. Human brain already works on the principle of selective attention. Loads of things, details, stimuli, faces, conversation get packed under 'background noise' or otherwise we wouldn't be able to function due to sensory overload, constant distractions and conflicting pieces of information. Advertising is a fairly new thing. Our brains will learn to filter them in time.

    And about privacy, it's a fluid thing. In the 1800s there were massive objections to even giving your address to the government or census, because people feared the loss of privacy. I'm not saying commercial stalking is ok, though. Technology has moved faster than the regulation of it.
     
  3. thirdwind

    thirdwind Member Contest Administrator Reviewer Contributor

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    What is this privacy you speak of? Here in the US the government is looking in on everything. I think it was the CIA who was collecting pictures of people by hacking into webcam feeds.
     
  4. Lae

    Lae Contributor Contributor

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    Partly why I said "little privacy we had left"

    It just rubs me up the wrong way, commercial stalking is probably my a better way of putting it than losing privacy.
     
  5. vera2014

    vera2014 Member

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    I think the whole cookie thing has gone too far. Gmail is really freaking me out. I recently did a search on Google (a question about Star Wars) and now there are Star Wars ads popping up on the gmail sidebar among other things. Do I want a custom lightsaber? No, I don't want one! I'm thinking of ending my gmail account.
     
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  6. thirdwind

    thirdwind Member Contest Administrator Reviewer Contributor

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    Sneaky bastards are always finding loopholes in privacy laws.
     
  7. Michael Collins

    Michael Collins Senior Member

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    Yeah it happens all the time, as soon as I got my bodybuilding instructor qualification I got submerged by spam emails abut buying cheap supplements.
    And whatever you search on google pops up later as a gmail ad.
     
  8. mammamaia

    mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

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    'internet privacy' is as much an oxymoron as 'jumbo shrimp' and 'clean bomb'
     
  9. Lae

    Lae Contributor Contributor

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    No, youra moron. :p
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 13, 2014
  10. Bryan Romer

    Bryan Romer Contributor Contributor

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    I have disabled GPS, Bluetooth, Wifi, and just about anything else on my phone. I also don't twitter, or have whatsapp, facebook, Googlemail, or any other mail. I have a call blocker that whitelists my calls.

    Not perfect, but it cuts down on the kind of rubbish Lae was talking about.

    Why have a smartphone? I have a 64Gb microSD plus multiple thumb drives that plug into the phone. I use it to read books, view photos, play mp3 and watch (recorded) TV shows and films.
     
  11. thirdwind

    thirdwind Member Contest Administrator Reviewer Contributor

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    $100 says you're on the government watch list. Governments don't like people with rebel mentalities. ;)
     
  12. Bryan Romer

    Bryan Romer Contributor Contributor

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    I'm also constantly searching the Net for stuff like making gunpowder, poisons, strangling techniques etc so I probably have a drone circling my head 24/7 :)
     
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  13. mammamaia

    mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

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    if you knew how to spell, i might take that seriously! ;)
     
  14. Lae

    Lae Contributor Contributor

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    I have dyslexia. So cheers for comment :D

    Just too clarify, I do no how to spell correktly. I rote 'youra" thor a reason, 'your're a moron' just sounded to cincere.
     
  15. GingerCoffee

    GingerCoffee Web Surfer Girl Contributor

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    Get an adblock app, that should stop most of it.
     
  16. GingerCoffee

    GingerCoffee Web Surfer Girl Contributor

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    I so worry about this. :p
     
  17. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    I pretty much only need to drive by a Walgreens for an email to chime on my phone with Walgreens coupons. Seriously. Drive by. All it takes.
     
  18. chicagoliz

    chicagoliz Contributor Contributor

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    It's mostly google ads, which show up on so many different sites. Searches you've done can also lead to ads -- I once googled something that was of a sexual nature for a character in a story I was writing. I had weird ads for weeks.
     
  19. GingerCoffee

    GingerCoffee Web Surfer Girl Contributor

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    I admit to keeping a post-it over my computer's camera lense.

    But look what else is going on:
    New Hi-Tech Police Surveillance: The “StingRay” Cell Phone Spying Device
    It's one thing if they use these devices in a drug dealing area, but they are also using them to track political protesters.

    Stingray
    This is the next step:
    In the Ukraine
    And then there is this:
    Apple patent could remotely disable protesters' phone cameras
     
  20. GingerCoffee

    GingerCoffee Web Surfer Girl Contributor

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    From Googling for tires before I got Adblock, they decided I was male and started sending all those single women in your area ads.

    Target got caught sending baby diaper ads to a woman before she'd told anyone she was pregnant. In the uproar that followed Target changed tactics and now your diaper ad is mixed in with unrelated ads so it looks coincidental that they were collecting your search data.
     
  21. thirdwind

    thirdwind Member Contest Administrator Reviewer Contributor

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    I do the same thing, except I use a sticker instead of a post-it note. I've actually heard of a lot of people doing this.
     
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  22. Lae

    Lae Contributor Contributor

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    I have it and it helps massively, its just annoying i guess when one or two slip through. I dont mind everyday ads, its just the personal ones tend to irritate me that tad bit more.

    Is it weird i just pictured you and @Bryan Romer being rushed out of your houses in your underwear by a swat team screaming "its for my book, its for my book" and waving it wildly in the air?
     
  23. GingerCoffee

    GingerCoffee Web Surfer Girl Contributor

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    :eek:
    The more I see this stuff, the more inspiration I get for my novel. You can't make this stuff up. Orwell had the right idea about ubiquitous surveillance, but he missed the marketing science. You don't need to torture the dissidents into brainwashed submission, just find the right marketing message.
     
  24. jazzabel

    jazzabel Agent Provocateur Contributor

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    That's why I sign out of all my social media and emails, I reset my browser, then do the naughty research, clear the cache and cookies, then sign back in. So far it worked. I can't stand intrusive porn ads.
     
  25. GingerCoffee

    GingerCoffee Web Surfer Girl Contributor

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    Adblock is much easier.
     

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