I did read The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo trilogy on my Kindle and watch Game of Thrones and Six Feet Under on HBO...hmmm...
Internet marketers as well as hackers know way more about you than you think, it's actually pretty creepy. Don't know how they do it really. I don't even use my main email for signing up for stuff, so all the spam I get is random, and a lot of it is surprisingly very targeted. I've had it happen where I search on a site for something and get spam related to those things later on. How they hell do they get my email and associate it with that web browsing session I have no idea. Have to keep in mind all this stuff is automated. Somebody who really wanted to could figure out my IP and know that it's me because of things I host but that would require some manual digging around. These systems do it automatically.
The weirdest one is every time I order something off Ebay, I get one of those fake package delivery email with a zip virus. Every single time. It's usually UPS, but sometimes Fedex. Basically it's an email saying there was a problem with my shipment and I need to open the "pdf" file, which of course will be a virus. It's not actually from the courier.
Haha, you're gay!
I liked a gay rights page on Facebook some years ago and got endless ads about gay vacations and gay cruises. And they say the gays aren't recruiting. I stopped liking pages for this and other reasons.
Considering these guys know your first name, you probably have a better idea who they are than anyone else.
So that's why I keep getting ads to clear my criminal record...
In all fairness your name is Brad and that alone is like a 90% chance you're gay.
Even emails with embedded images and html code can be tracked by use of web beacons, i just read... So there you go.
Edit: I suppose now that I've posted in this thread, I'll get ads for gay senior dating sites and hospice care.
Do you use Facebook at all? Have a Google account?
In all fairness your name is Brad and that alone is like a 90% chance you're gay.
Trackers, every website has between 10 and a hundred trackers at least.
All recording every move you make. Every site you visit. Web beacons are also fun, tracking where your mouse is and what you click.
Reading your cookies, for example website a might be reading website b cookies to gather more information about your surfing behavior, if i am not mistaken.
It is all web analytics.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_analytics
Try Ghostery. It will block tracking cookies, beacons, etc. However when they notify you of a new version, you need to go into setup and make sure everything is checked off. They don't by default block new trackers since the last update. It's kind of a pain in the ass but it only happens every few weeks or more and only takes about a minute to do. If you click on options from the icon in the task bar, it opens another tab in firefox. You go through a few screens and you're done.But how do they know things like my email address or what I ordered IRL at a store? or how do they track between different machines? I've had it happen where I do a search at home and at work I start getting ads on what I searched for at home. I use adblock at home as well, shouldn't that stop all the tracking too? Or does it just hide the ads, not stop them from loading?
But how do they know things like my email address or what I ordered IRL at a store? or how do they track between different machines? I've had it happen where I do a search at home and at work I start getting ads on what I searched for at home. I use adblock at home as well, shouldn't that stop all the tracking too? Or does it just hide the ads, not stop them from loading?
I've dl'ed ublock but I was curious. Do the default filters auto update?Probably google. If you allow cookies, and sign in to their services, they know who you are. Cookie management should help a lot. Contrary to the above, I wouldn't recommend ghostery. It's proprietary software, made by an ad company. I use ublock(origin) with aggressive lists, SelfDestructingCookies, block third party cookies, and use NoScript. For a little redundancy I have PrivacyBadger, but it doesn't have much to do after using my other stuff. Oh, and I don't use google aside from legacy email(handled with thunderbird).
edit:
It goes without saying, facebook is spyware. They aspire to be as intrusive as google, but aren't quite there yet since their breadth of services isn't as wide as google's.
That's why I tend not to donate to any causes. Because if you do it once, they'll send you more requests. Then if you never donate again, they'll make money off of you by selling your personal info. It's a dog eat dog world out there when it comes to charitable fund raising.
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Probably google. If you allow cookies, and sign in to their services, they know who you are. Cookie management should help a lot. Contrary to the above, I wouldn't recommend ghostery. It's proprietary software, made by an ad company. I use ublock(origin) with aggressive lists, SelfDestructingCookies, block third party cookies, and use NoScript. For a little redundancy I have PrivacyBadger, but it doesn't have much to do after using my other stuff. Oh, and I don't use google aside from legacy email(handled with thunderbird).
"Just because you're paranoid... it doesn't mean they're not out to get you...."
I've dl'ed ublock but I was curious. Do the default filters auto update?
That sounds a lot like work.Donate via TOR browser while you are using a VPN, with a prepaid credit card. and use the Last name "Nuts" and the first name "Deez"
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The thing I like about ABP is the text addon. So if something isn't strickly an ad but just text advertising, you can select it and block. I also use it block avatars that I don't like.Every 14 days if I remember right. They have a comprehensive wiki on the github, and it'll say somewhere in there. It's worth reading the docs. It can do much more than simply block ads, including taking the place of NoScript. I continue with NoScript because it's familiar, and not very heavy, so there's little reason to stop.
The interface isn't as friendly as ABP, but it's a more powerful blocker without the questionable business model ABP has, especially in recent times.
The thing I like about ABP is the text addon. So if something isn't strickly an ad but just text advertising, you can select it and block. I also use it block avatars that I don't like.