Who has the power to stop this online invasion of privacy?

If you feel this strongly about this, use an encrypted messaging app.

^^Thank you. No idea there is
such an app.

Does your browser have ad blocking?

I have a Firefox browser with Ad Block Plus, and I never see ads where it’s active.

^^Thanks much. But I don’t think Facebook offers an ad blocker for their ads.

I wouldn’t be as surprised or to be precise…as aghast if I did a search on Facebook for that restaurant or use Messenger to send that text…but no that’s not what happened.

What I did was use my iPhone ( Boost mobile is my carrier ) to send that text to my friend. When I went to my FB page, the ad was there. Coincidence? I really don’t think so.

If your primary concern is unwanted monitoring of your texts, try blocking trackers on your iPhone:

Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Tracking. The list shows the apps that requested permission to track you. You can turn permission on or off for any app on the list. To stop all apps from asking permission to track you, turn off Allow Apps to Request to Track (at the top of the screen).

^^Oh thanks again. Very much!

I started using the BRAVE Browser. It blocks out ads and trackers by the thousands. Pages load more quickly and I notice a whole lot fewer ads popping up.

If you don’t protect yourself, NOBODY is concerned!!!

I do a LOT of research on the latest SCAMS & how best to protect myself from same. At that point, I do research apps to help combat the problem. I now use Firefox as my browser, I have Ad Block Plus & I use Surfshark as my VPN. I don’t do FB nor IG. I avoid all Google related apps. Google sells any info they collect to the various governments & any 3rd party willing to pay the highest amount. Our cell phones gather even MORE info on us. I keep my phone set to where my location isn’t given to anyone. I don’t use apps for restaurants, retail or any where in between. I have my debit & credit cards set to send me a text when there is any activity on my account. That way I can call immediately to report any unauthorized activity.

FB is a main culprit on collecting your data & selling it to many 3rd parties. In your case, I think it was your cell that betrayed you by passing the info on to FB. Now if you block FB from seeing your info, they WILL block you from seeing most if not all of their info. They assume that you will unblock them because it will bother you that you can’t see what they blocked. Any site that blocks me because I blocked them, I immediately leave because it tells me that they are collecting my data without any thought of my safety!!! With ABP I can look & see how many items were blocked. Over the years, I’ve developed the habit of assuming EVERYTHING is a SCAM or at a minimum a fraud. My paranoia helps to keep me safe!!!

The other thing that I do is watch my emails VERY close. If the name of the sender isn’t exactly like it normally is, I hover my mouse over the name of the sender which shows me the actual email addy that sent it & I report it as junk or a SCAM. That cuts out a LOT of headaches!!!

^^I have my work cut out for me I can now see. Thanks!