Is it terrifying or not how internet sites monitor all your searches and viewings so they can market something to you?

That is why you have to use adblock and noscript.

It drives me insane!!! About 2–½ years ago I had a situation where I was forced to stay at my brother’s house for around 1 month. I had my laptop with me to help me pass the time. I didn’t get there until around 9 pm & he gave me the logon info so I could get onto the net. I went to bed early & didn’t do any navigating of the net that night. After getting up the next morning & beginning my day of looking for what was happening in the world, I noticed that I was receiving some really odd ads at various sites. These ads had NOTHING to do with anything I had shown interest in, yet I found some of them interesting. As the days went by, I continued to see these really strange ads with one in particular always on top. After about day 3 I asked my brother IF he recognized any of the ads I was receiving & he admitted that they were ALL things that he had been looking at over the week before I arrived. He was miffed that he wasn’t seeing the same ads as he was still interested in most of the items. As the days progressed, the ads changed & every time I asked him, my new ads were things that he had been looking into. This went on for the full month that I was there. Nothing that I had researched interfered with HIS ads yet every time he looked at something new, I’d get the ads for it. Just joking. I asked him to stay away from any porn sites because I didn’t want to be bombarded by their trash!!! He promised to behave & I never received any info from a porn site, but it did unnerve me that my computer was being watched from some other use’s search. His wife’s searches never interfered with mine…ONLY my brother’s searches.

Since that time, I’ve been paranoid about what info is being collected. When doing my searches, I now use Duckduckgo because they claim they don’t track you. It’s not as convenient because I have to enter the city & state with restaurant & store searches for local info. When I go to my local news site, I’m asked to turn on my location info. I decline & they still let me look around the site. I also have Ccleaner where it blocks ALL cookies except for sites where I give specific permission.When I close out for the day, I do a deep clean where ALL cookies are cleared with the exception of the specific ones I’ve chosen to allow to spy on me. My browser will allow me the same cookie protection, but I’ve found Ccleaner easier to navigate!!!

I also use adblock plus.

Yes, It’s a lot more inconvenient to do everything I needed to make me feel safe; however, it makes me feel a bit safer as to who is looking. In doing all this, I NO longer receive those ads & my youtube is my own. Google owns youtube & they will hook you up even before you search!!!

Most people won’t go through the hassle to block those watching them. My BFF won’t because she wants to be able to ask for a specific store near her. Well, they have to see where you are before they can tell you what is close by. Then she complains that she’s receiving too many ads on things that she’s searched. When I tell her how to get around it, she sighs & says “that’s too much trouble”. For me, my privacy is worth the trouble!!!

Hell if you just talk about something within ear shot of my cell phone it shows up in my Facebook feed and Amazon too. Just not cool.

^^Agree. My friend and I were talking about her grandkids when her phone on the table started talking about where to buy toys. This has got to stop!

I turn off al microphones & cover all camera lens. I make sure to close the lid on my laptop when I finish what I’m doing. Alexa is another one that I avoid!!!

Your right to privacy depends on who is listening, and the circumstances in which you are communicating.

If it’s the government, you have a point. That’s why people are worried about some of the NSA’s terrorist monitoring activities.

On the other hand, if you are putting stuff about yourself out into the ether, you can’t expect it to be private. If you tell a secret in your house, and the window is open, you can’t expect the neighbor not to hear it.

My main concern is for ALL the Google listening!!! Personally, I think Google is a long arm of the government collecting any needed (or NOT needed) information on ALL of us. Apple is their counterpart!!!

I find it annoying. I wouldn’t say it’s terrifying, in my opinion.

^^It’s this collection of information about each and every consumer and social media user’s actions which gets aggregated as our unique data profile showing enough of our behavior and biases which otherwise would have been known only to our friends and families that I find terrifying. They would know us better than we know ourselves and that makes us vulnerable.