they know what you are doing

[zorgon]

Facebook wants users' private banking and financial data

Your banking data was once off-limits to tech companies. Now they're racing to get it.

Facebook's push to gain access to users' banking data and other sensitive financial information could help make online banking more efficient — or it could backfire among those skeptical that the world's biggest social network can reliably safeguard personal data.

The site has joined a growing race among big technology companies seeking private information once regarded as off-limits: users' checking-account balances, recent credit card transactions and other facts of their personal finances and everyday lives.

Facebook said this week that it had proposed data-sharing partnerships with banks and credit card companies that would allow users to access their personal account information from within the social network's messaging service, Facebook Messenger, as an alternative to speaking with customer service representatives or automated chatbots on the companies' banking or credit sites.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2018/08/07/your-banking-data-was-once-off-limits-tech-companies-now-theyre-racing-get-it/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.cd0660862ae4

[zorgon]

Facebook wants you to do banking on its Messenger app

Facebook says it's working with banks on bringing more services to its apps, partnerships that could integrate more personal financial data into the social network recently criticized by lawmakers for a callous approach to its users' privacy.

The disclosures follow a report in "The Wall Street Journal" that Facebook is urging banks to offer information such as credit card transactions and checking account balances so the social giant can offer customer service options on its messaging platform, Messenger. The data would be used for potential features including fraud alerts and the ability to check balances within the app.

Facebook said it's looking to get more banks and financial companies to offer services on its Messenger app, say by allowing a customer to message with his or her bank as an alternative to phone services,  but it's not actively asking for data related to financial transactions.

"Like many online companies with commerce businesses, we partner with banks and credit card companies to offer services like customer chat or account management," Facebook said.

"The idea is that messaging with a bank can be better than waiting on hold over the phone — and it's completely opt-in."

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/nation-now/2018/08/07/facebook-denies-report-asked-banks-user-financial-data/921751002/

[zorgon]

Facebook also said it is looking to get more banks and financial companies to offer services on Messenger.

The Journal also reported that concerns over data privacy have been a sticking point for banks in their conversations with the social networking giant.

Facebook's discussions for banking data follow a challenging year for the social network in which the company admitted that information on 87 million users was obtained improperly by political consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica.

Facebook's public reputation has also been stung by the use of its platform by Russia to attempt to sway the 2016 presidential election, as well as the continued spread of misinformation.

Last week, Facebook suffered the worst one-day loss in Wall Street history, shedding $100 billion in market value.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/nation-now/2018/08/07/facebook-denies-report-asked-banks-user-financial-data/921751002/

[zorgon]

Facebook said the data would not be shared with marketers or used for ad-targeting purposes, [ya right ] and no major U.S. financial institutions have announced that they're interested in a joint arrangement.[Well THAT is good news] But a company representative said several unnamed banks and credit card companies have voiced interest in teaming up with the social network, even proposing their own potential deals.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2018/08/07/your-banking-data-was-once-off-limits-tech-companies-now-theyre-racing-get-it/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.cd0660862ae4

[The Seeker]

Facebook needs to go take a flying leap at a rolling donut on top of the Matterhorn 
They have absolutely no need for any of my, or your, personal financial and/or banking information,ever.

George Orwell is probably laughing his ass off at the stupidity of people in general and how the dummies have walked right into this monster called Facebook(Facespook is more like it)



Seeker

[space otter]

wow.. even the weather channel....

Weather Channel app sued over alleged mining of users' data - CNN
https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/05/us/weather-channel-app-suit/index.html
3 hours ago -

Weather Channel app sued over alleged mining of users' data
By Hollie Silverman and Joe Sterling, CNN

Updated 10:22 AM ET, Sat January 5, 2019

(CNN)The city of Los Angeles has sued to stop the operator of The Weather Channel's mobile phone application from allegedly "covertly mining the private data of users and selling the information to third parties, including advertisers."

"We're acting to stop this alleged deceit," Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer said Friday in a statement. "We allege TWC (The Weather Channel) elevates corporate profits over users' privacy, misleading them into allowing their movements to be tracked, 24/7."

Defendant TWC Product and Technology, a subsidiary of IBM, disputes the claims.
"Weather Company has always been transparent with use of location data; the disclosures are fully appropriate, and we will defend them vigorously," IBM spokesman Saswato Das told CNN.

READ THE LAWSUIT...link from this link takes you to a pdf

The complaint contends that "for years, TWC has deceptively used its Weather Channel APP to amass its users' private, personal geolocation data -- tracking minute details about its users' locations throughout the day and night, all the while leading users to believe that their data will only be used to provide them with 'personalized local weather data, alerts and forecasts.'

"TWC has then profited from that data, using it and monetizing it for purposes entirely unrelated to weather or the Weather Channel App. In fact, unbeknownst to its users, TWC's core business is amassing and profiting from user location data."

The suit was filed Thursday in state court on behalf of Californians.
Deep in the privacy policy
The complaint claims information about the company's practices are "intentionally" obscured "because it recognizes that many users would not permit the Weather Channel App to track their geolocation if they knew the true uses of that data."
By "combing" through the nearly 10,000-word privacy policy, the complaint says, users can learn "that their geolocation may be tracked for purposes other than 'personalized local weather data, alerts and forecasts.'"



NYT: Facebook offered big tech firms more user data than previously revealed

The privacy settings section, the complaint says, "vaguely states that geolocation data may be used for 'geographically relevant ads and content' and may be shared with 'partners' for 'the provision of services such as business operations, advertising solutions or promotions.'"

"Based on the misleading statements and omissions," the complaint said. "TWC is able to convince approximately 80% of the Weather Channel App's users to grant access to their geolocation data. TWC then proceeds to track those users' movements in minute detail."
Feuer said the information amassed "is allegedly used for targeted advertisements by at least a dozen third party websites over the past 19 months based on locations users frequent, and has been by hedge funds interested in analyzing consumer behavior."
The complaint asks that TWC be stopped from "engaging in the unfair and fraudulent business acts and practices" and be assessed civil penalties -- up to $2,500 for each violation of the Unfair Competition Law and up to $2,500 for each violation of the law "perpetrated against senior citizens or disabled persons."

The case "goes to the core of one of today's most fundamental issues ... privacy in the digital age," Feuer said in his statement.
"We believe Americans must have the facts before giving away our most personal information," the city attorney said. "If the cost of a weather forecast will be the sacrifice of deeply private information -- like precisely where we are, day and night -- it must be clear, in advance."

https://www.newsweek.com/weather-channel-app-selling-user-info-profit-one-lawsuit-says-so-1280325
U.S.
IS THE WEATHER CHANNEL APP SELLING USER INFO FOR PROFIT? ONE LAWSUIT SAYS SO
BY SCOTT MCDONALD ON 1/5/19 AT 1:40 AM



https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/lawsuit-alleges-the-weather-channel-app-profited-off-user-location-data-1420286531951
Lawsuit alleges The Weather Channel app profited off user location data



Delete the Weather Channel App If You're Concerned About Your ...
https://lifehacker.com/delete-the-weather-channel-app-if-youre-concerned-about-183...
1 day ago - The Weather Channel, an app drawer staple for many of us, may be using your location data without your consent. The city of Los Angeles filed ...

[space otter]

i thought this was important enough to post.. there is no privacy and now they will use your blood any way they can 
are you an antenna ?..who are you related to? what group can they put you and your blood-relatives in?
they already have been collecting this material from babies born in hospitals for years

geeeeeeeeze

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/major-dna-testing-company-sharing-genetic-data-with-the-fbi/ar-BBT3Pft?li=BBnb7Kz

Major DNA testing company sharing genetic data with the FBI

The decision by a prominent consumer DNA-testing company to share data with federal law enforcement means investigators have access to genetic information linked to hundreds of millions of people.

FamilyTreeDNA, an early pioneer of the rapidly growing market for consumer genetic testing, confirmed late Thursday that it has granted the Federal Bureau of Investigation access to its vast trove of nearly 2 million genetic profiles. The arrangement was first reported by BuzzFeed News.

Concerns about unfettered access to genetic information gathered by testing companies have swelled since April, when police used a genealogy website to ensnare a suspect in the decades-old case of the Golden State Killer. But that site, GEDmatch, was open-source, meaning police were able to upload crime-scene DNA data to the site without permission. The latest arrangement marks the first time a commercial testing company has voluntarily given law enforcement access to user data.

The move is of concern to more than just privacy-minded FamilyTreeDNA customers. One person sharing genetic information also exposes those to whom they are closely related. That's how police caught the alleged Golden State Killer. A study last year estimated that only 2 percent of the population needs to have done a DNA test for virtually everyone's genetic information to be represented in that data.

Doubling Data
FamilyTreeDNA's cooperation with the FBI more than doubles the amount of genetic data law enforcement already had access to through GEDmatch. On a case-by-case basis, the company has agreed to test DNA samples for the FBI and upload profiles to its database, allowing law enforcement to see familial matches to crime-scene samples. FamilyTreeDNA said law enforcement may not freely browse genetic data but rather has access only to the same information any user might.

"The FBI does not have unfettered access to the FamilyTreeDNA database," Bennett Greenspan, the company founder and chief executive officer, said in a statement.

The genealogy community expressed dismay. Last summer, FamilyTree DNA was among a list of consumer genetic testing companies that agreed to a suite of voluntary privacy guidelines, but as of Friday morning, it had been crossed off the list.

"The deal between FamilyTreeDNA and the FBI is deeply flawed," said John Verdi, vice president of policy at the Future of Privacy Forum, which maintains the list. "It's out of line with industry best practices, it's out of line with what leaders in the space do and it's out of line with consumer expectations."

Some in the field have begun arguing that a universal, government-controlled database may be better for privacy than allowing law enforcement to gain access to consumer information.

FamilyTreeDNA said its lab has received "less than 10 samples" from the FBI. It also said it has worked with state and city police agencies in addition to the FBI to resolve cold cases.

"The genealogy community, their privacy and confidentiality has always been our top priority," the company said in an email response to questions.

Consumer DNA testing has become big business. Ancestry.com and 23andMe Inc. alone have sold more than 15 million DNA kits. Concerns about an industry commitment to privacy could hamper the industry's rapid growth.

Since the arrest of the suspected Golden State Killer, more than a dozen other suspects have been apprehended using GEDmatch. By doubling the amount of data law enforcement have access to, those numbers are sure to surge.

"The real risk is not exposure of info but that an innocent person could be swept up in a criminal investigation because his or her cousin has taken a DNA test,'' said Debbie Kennett, a British genealogist and author. "On the other hand, the more people in the databases and the closer the matches, the less chance there is that people will make mistakes.''

Related video: DNA test kits uncover surprising genetic info (provided by CBS Los Angeles)

[Sgt.Rocknroll]

I'm a big user of Ancestry.com. I've traced my family back 27 generations. I'm constantly getting asked/prodded by them to submit to DNA testing which I refuse to do. And I tell my friends/relatives not to submit to their scams. Now I know my DNA is out there possibly from the medical procedures I've had, but I have never nor will I ever give consent to have my DNA used. I know that these companies will after a time sell my DNA to the highest bidder even if they say they won't.

[space otter]

well if you've done a crime - expect to do the time
so far dna doesn't lie...



https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/dna-match-leads-to-arrest-in-navy-grads-killing-%E2%80%94-34-years-later/ar-BBUMLnf?li=BBnb7Kz

Her killing has gone unsolved for 34 years.

On Thursday, Seminole County Sheriff Dennis Lemma announced an arrest in Cahanes' killing: Using a public database, he said, investigators matched DNA found on Cahanes' body to Thomas Lewis Garner, a 59-year-old dental hygienist from Jacksonville.

.
.
.

For years, authorities had tested the DNA found on Cahanes to no avail. But recent advancements allowed investigators to build a "family tree" that eventually led to Garner being considered a suspect in the case. A spokesman for the Sheriff's Office said Garner's DNA was matched using a "genealogy research database," but did not elaborate on which specific database led authorities to Garner.

Investigators then trailed Garner until he dropped a "personal item" that analysts could test for DNA. Testing later placed the odds of the evidence found on Cahanes' body belonging to anyone other than Garner at 700 billion to 1, Lemma said.

Garner had not previously been considered a suspect, Lemma said. Garner has not admitted to killing Cahanes and authorities are not sure how the two encountered each other.

[space otter]

smile - you're on camera

https://techcrunch.com/2019/06/10/cbp-data-breach/

CBP says traveler photos and license plate images stolen in data breach
Zack Whittaker@zackwhittaker / 6 hours ago

U.S. Customs and Border Protection  has confirmed a data breach has exposed the photos of travelers and vehicles traveling in and out of the United States.

The photos were transferred to a subcontractor's network and later stolen through a "malicious cyberattack," a CBP spokesperson told TechCrunch in an email.

CBP's networks were unaffected by the breach.

"CBP learned that a subcontractor, in violation of CBP policies and without CBP's authorization or knowledge, had transferred copies of license plate images and traveler images collected by CBP to the subcontractor's company network," said an agency statement.

"Initial information indicates that the subcontractor violated mandatory security and privacy protocols outlined in their contract," the statement read.

The agency first learned of the breach on May 31.

A spokesperson for the agency later said the security incident affected "fewer than 100,000 people" through a "few specific lanes at a single land border" over a period of a month and a half.

"No passport or other travel document photographs were compromised and no images of airline passengers from the air entry/exit process were involved," the spokesperson said.

The agency did not name the subcontractor.

The breach comes weeks after a report said Perceptics, a government contractor, which claims to be the "sole provider" of license plate readers at U.S. land borders, was breached and its data was dumped on the dark web. It's not yet known if the two incidents are linked. But according to the Washington Post, a Microsoft Word document containing the statement included "Perceptics" in the title. (TechCrunch received the statement as text in an email.)

CBP, however, said that 'none of the image data has been identified on the Dark Web or internet."

A spokesperson for Perceptics did not immediately comment.

It remains unclear exactly what kind of photos were taken, such as if the images were collected directly from CBP officers by visitors entering the U.S. or part of the agency's rollout of facial recognition technology at U.S. ports of entry.

A CBP spokesperson did not return a follow-up email.

The agency processes more than a million travelers entering the U.S. every day.

CBP said it had notified members of Congress and is "closely monitoring" CBP-related work by the subcontractor.

Ron Wyden, a Democratic senator vocal on national security issues, said the government "needs to explain exactly how it intends to prevent this kind of breach from happening in the future."

"This incident should be a lesson to those who have supported expanding government surveillance powers – these vast troves of Americans' personal information are a ripe target for attackers," said Wyden.

News of the CBP breach has drawn ire from the civil liberties crowd, which have long opposed the collection of facial recognition at the border.

In remarks, ACLU senior legislative counsel Neema Singh Guliani said the breach "further underscores the need to put the brakes" on the government's facial recognition efforts.

"The best way to avoid breaches of sensitive personal data is not to collect and retain such data in the first place," she said.

Updated with new information from CBP.

.....................................................

https://techcrunch.com/2018/09/25/watchdog-says-face-scanning-at-us-airports-is-plagued-with-technical-problems/

Watchdog says face scanning at US airports is plagued with technical problems
Zack Whittaker@zackwhittaker / 9 months ago


A watchdog report has warned that Homeland Security's face scanning program, designed to track all departing travelers from the U.S., is facing "technical and operational challenges" that may not see the system fully working by the time of its estimated completion in 2021.

The report by Homeland Security's inspector general said that although Customs and Border Protection (CBP) was making "considerable progress" in rolling out the facial scanning technology, the program is dogged with problems.

CBP has been on a years-long effort to roll out facial recognition at U.S. airports, trialing one airport after the other with the help of airlines, in an effort to track passengers as they leave the U.S. Although citizens can opt-out, the biometric scanning is mandatory for all foreign nationals and visitors. CBP is using the system to crack down on those who overstay their visas, but critics say the system violates privacy rights.

Currently in nine airports, the facial recognition program is set to be operational in the top 20 airports by 2021. But the inspector general report out Tuesday said the government may miss that target.

"During the pilot, CBP encountered various technical and operational challenges that limited biometric confirmation to only 85 percent of all passengers processed," the report said. "These challenges included poor network availability, a lack of dedicated staff, and compressed boarding times due to flight delays."

The report said the scanners failed to "consistently match individuals of certain age groups or nationalities."

Although the system detected 1,300 visitors overstaying their allowed time in the U.S., the watchdog seemed to suggest that more overstays would have been found if the system wasn't running under capacity at an 85 percent success rate.

As a result, CBP "may be unable to meet expectations for achieving full operational capability, including biometrically processing 100 percent of all international passengers at the 20 busiest airports," the report said.

Staffing issues and a lack of certainty around airline assistance are also throwing the program into question. After all, CBP said that it will rely on the airlines to take the facial scans, while CBP does the background checks behind the scenes. But CBP's "plans to rely upon airport stakeholders" for equipment purchases, like digital cameras needed for taking passenger photos at boarding gates "pose a significant point of failure" for the program, the report read.

"Until CBP resolves the longstanding questions regarding stakeholder commitment to its biometric program, it may not be able to scale up to reach full operating capability by 2021 as planned," the report said.

Although the CBP disagreed, the agency said it would "develop an internal contingency plan" in case airlines and airports decline to help.

A CBP spokesperson told TechCrunch that the agency has made "significant advancements" since the inspector general's report, and now says the biometric matching averages at 97 percent.

[space otter]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/is-facebook-listening-to-me-why-those-ads-appear-after-you-talk-about-things/ar-AADv9NZ?li=BBnb7Kz

Is Facebook listening to me? Why those ads appear after you talk about things
Jefferson Graham  1 hr ago

Video by CBS News (at link)


My editor, Michelle, was at a birthday party for her son's friend recently, when the mom mentioned a company she liked called Joymode. Minutes later, an ad for Joymode appeared on Michelle's Facebook news feed.

When she told me about it, we both wondered whether the urban legend could be true. Does Facebook really listen to our conversations to serve us ads?

"I swear I think you guys are listening." That's how CBS This Morning host Gayle King put it just this week when she spoke with Adam Mosseri who heads up Instagram, which is owned by Facebook.

"Can you help me understand how I can be having a private conversation with someone about something I'm interested in seeing or buying, and an advertisement for that will pop up on my Instagram feed," King asked.  "I haven't searched for it, I haven't talked to anybody about it."

Well, Mosseri and the company deny that persistent perception every which way to Tuesday.

"[W]e don't look at your messages, we don't listen in on your microphone, doing so would be super problematic for a lot of different reasons," Mosseri insisted in the CBS interview.  "But I recognize you're not gonna really believe me."

So why do these ads keep appearing there with regularity, and why are so many people convinced Facebook isn't telling the truth?

"Facebook is eavesdropping on you," says Jamie Court, the president of Los Angeles-based Consumer Watchdog nonprofit. "It's just in a different way."

The truth is, Facebook tracks us in ways many of us don't even realize and is so good at it, we think it's monitoring our conversations. Instead, it uses sophisticated demographic and location data to serve up ads.

"It's like they're stalking you," says Court. "They put all sorts of circumstantial evidence together, and you're marketed to as if they're listening to your conversations."

Google knows: Check your settings if you don't want your every move tracked

How to stop it: Amazon is watching, listening and tracking you

In the case of Michelle's Joymode ad, we asked Facebook point blank to help us decipher how this happened, and it sent us to the "Why you're seeing this ad," feature that's included in the menu of all Facebook ads. (Three dots at the top right of the page.)

The answer was written in marketing speak. Michelle saw the ad because Joymode wanted to reach "people who may be similar to their customers," and people over 18 who live in Los Angeles.

That offers no real clarity on why it showed up when it did.

However, here's our translation, with an assist from Court. Facebook's algorithm figured, since she was with her friend of a similar age and both had children, that Michelle would be equally interested in a brand the mom had liked once it deduced that both were in the same geographic location together – where the friend's Joymode subscription was actively in use.

And if she had posted photos from the party on Instagram, more data clues could have been collected to solidify the interest connection.

"The FB AI engine can determine intent from textual and visual material you provide," notes tech industry veteran Phil Lieberman. "With intent, they can find product and services that you might be interested in. This is all about 'recommender systems' similar to what Amazon offers,  but FB has more information on an ongoing basis to determine what you might be interested in buying."

Tracking vs. listening
Atlanta-based Facebook user Lily Leiva came up with a similar explanation for the Finnish Baby Box, briefly mentioned at a dinner with a friend. The ad for the $500 maternity box appeared in her News Feed the next day. "I found it so unnerving," she said. "Facebook was trying to predict my behavior."

Her theory was that Facebook pushed the ad to her because she had been with her friend, who had liked the product.

"Facebook says they don't listen to our conversations," she said. "But they don't say they don't track you."

In fact, the social network actually is quite open about the tracking.

Most of us know that every time we like a post, leave a comment and tag a friend, that gives Facebook even more ammunition to serve us ads. Every check-in, every hashtag, every comment is more grist for the mill.

But wait, there's more...
The social network admits that it collects the "content, communications and other information," including photographs and videos, accounts, hashtags and groups we are connected to. It notes what posts, videos and other content we view and even collects our payment information, including credit or debit card number, billing and shipping info.

"There are many other ways for Facebook to target you with ads based on data they've collected and put through algorithms," affirms privacy advocate Paul Bischoff. "Remember that Facebook can track what you do on other websites and apps that use Facebook plugins, login, and widgets."

Facebook's single sign-on offers another door to your data. If you've used your Facebook account to sign in on a website, to subscribe to an email, make a purchase or snag a coupon, Facebook can collect data of what you do like view a webpage or add a product to an online shopping cart.

Tired of #$%& passwords? Single Sign-on could be savior

The social network tracks us on mobile phones if we give permission, meaning the social network knows where you are, even with the app closed. It leaves "cookie" data on our devices for tracking, "to create personalized products that are unique and relevant to you."

On permissions, Facebook doesn't entice you to allow non-stop tracking even with the app closed. Instead, as it did to this reporter recently, a post on Facebook-owned Instagram was about to go live, when a pop-up window urged him to "Turn on Location Services," to automatically select the city tag.

There are steps we can take to limit Facebook's tracking, but face it – if you're using the Facebook app and interacting with people, Facebook can get most of everything they need. "We may still understand your location using things like check-ins, events, and information about your internet connection," Facebook says in its FAQ on how its Location Settings work.

In fact, Aleksandra Korolova, an assistant professor at the University of Southern California, did a study of Facebook's location tracking and says that even if you opt-out, Facebook will still keep tabs on you.

"Even when we explicitly exercise all location controls," she said, "Facebook still learns the locations we visit and exploits it for ads."

In a widely read Medium post published in December 2018, Korolova noted the downside of being tracked. "The locations that a person visits and lives in reveal a great deal about them," she writes. "Their surreptitious collection and use in ad targeting can pave way to ads that are harmful, target people when they are vulnerable, or enable harassment and discrimination."

The issue of privacy can become particularly acute when there's the presumption or wish for confidentiality – say, during a therapist visit or at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.     

What to do? Security expert Will Strafach is launching a new smartphone app, Guardian Firewall, in July, to stop companies from tracking. "The electronic devices you bought and own should not be snitching on you," he says.

The app costs $9.99 monthly, and he says will stop Facebook and others from peering into your data most of the time.

"These companies are stealing data from your pocket, from the phones you paid for," he says. "They are wasting your battery life, and most people don't even realize it's happening."

HOW TO CHANGE PRIVACY SETTINGS ON FACEBOOK

Location tracking
There are steps you can take to dial back Facebook's interest in your activities. Start by refusing access to location data. On Apple iOS devices, go to Settings and open Facebook in the Apps section. Location access has three options: Always, While Using the App and Never.

On Android devices, open the Facebook app, go to Manage Settings, and put location tracking on Never.

Ad tracking
Click the button at the top right to access the Facebook settings, and look for Ads. Here you can fine-tune what information Facebook gives advertisers. Facebook has four categories to mull over: Interests, Advertising and Business, Your Information and Ad Settings.

The sub-categories you'll want to click are "Ads based on data from partners," "Ads based on your activities" and "Ads that include your social actions."

But even if you opt for "Never" on all of them, as Facebook notes, "you'll still see ads, but they won't be as relevant to you." And you'll still see ads for other reasons, such as your age, gender or location, the content in the app or website you're using and your activity in and around Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

Other options? Quit.
Facebook can't track you if you close your membership and delete the app. Asked if she's ready to do that, Leiva says, "That's the dilemma. Where else do I go?"

Facebook declined to offer executives for comment.

Readers: Have questions about privacy? We're here to help. Join the conversation on Twitter, @jeffersongraham.
REALLY ? BWHAHAHAHAHAH

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Is Facebook listening to me? Why those ads appear after you talk about things

[ArMaP]

Many things can be known about a person just by following their actions online, even on just one site like Facebook.

I'm sure they do not listen to me, as my different accounts have different suggestions, the result of my different behaviours on the different accounts.

[Ellirium113]

Facebook & Google have close ties with NSA & CIA even if they say they aren't tracking you with settings turned off rest assured THEY ARE. It's just an illusion of privacy. These corporations do not care about what the end user wants so long as they turn a profit.

[The Seeker]

The only way to not be tracked is to do this:
1,) NO CELL PHONE
2.)NO INTERNET
3.)NO TELEVISION
4.)NO TELEPHONE

And to live basically off the grid, no electricity, running water, in other words live in a teepee somewhere way off in the boonies or in a cave, with no address, nothing in your name, and little contact with the rest of the world...

and yes, they can access the mike on your phone even when the phone is turned off (that is why on a lot of the newer phones the battery can't be removed)

I am getting old and stay too busy just trying to make ends meet for them to be interested in a one-armed fat man with bad legs and false teeth 

Seeker

[micjer]

Agreed, and when you buy something use cash or barter for your goods.  Also avoid the surveillance
cameras everywhere.