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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Facebook is watching me / us

46 replies

LovelyBath77 · 11/06/2018 07:39

and I don't like it. I have had a friend with a bereavement recently and after finding her some help online, it is now posting stuff about death in my timeline. Also after looking at fertility stuff on here, it is now giving me ads for fertility treatment.

I don't like this way it is picking up things online and feeding me stuff about them. AIBU? And have others noticed it as well?

OP posts:
cherrytrees123 · 11/06/2018 08:51

It now has facial recognition technology too. SO creepy!

Elphame · 11/06/2018 08:52

Google FB Purity and add it to your browser. I haven't seen an ad on Facebook for years!

SkaPunkPrincess · 11/06/2018 10:25

and this is why I deactivated my fb 6 weeks ago now.

I do not miss it. not one tiny bit

beltanewalk · 11/06/2018 12:18

If you go into Settings then Ad Preferences you can turn off a lot of the targeted ad settings and also customise your interests

QueenoftheNights · 11/06/2018 12:42

Pretty amazed at how naive people are.

Of COURSE FB gathers your data. Every 'like', comment, and things you click on are used by data scientists to profile you, sell your info and so on.
Your data is gathered from places like FB, your store loyalty cards, your browsing history, your online shopping history, your GPS on your phone....everything you do almost.
It's then sold to develop products either for you or your demography.

Clearing cookies or not accepting only partially works. Some websites will not allow you to proceed or will limit what you can see if you don't tick the 'accept cookies' box.

QueenoftheNights · 11/06/2018 12:43

If you go into Settings then Ad Preferences you can turn off a lot of the targeted ad settings and also customise your interests

LOL- so by customising your interests you are actually making it easier for the data scientists working on you behind the scenes!

QueenoftheNights · 11/06/2018 12:44

It now has facial recognition technology too. SO creepy!

No it doesn't. It was talked about as a plan but it's not in place.

LemonysSnicket · 11/06/2018 13:11

🙄 it's not new they're just smart ads. I'm not doing anything weird so I'm not worried about them targeting my ads. At least now I don't get viagra and men's shoes advertised to me.

beltanewalk · 11/06/2018 13:12

Nope @queenofthenights you can actually turn the settings off so that they can't show adverts based on your preferences......

beltanewalk · 11/06/2018 13:13

Oops I meant activity not preferences!

downbutnotout2018 · 11/06/2018 13:17

Ezzie29, that has happened to me too. I think there must be something to it....

Flooffloof · 11/06/2018 13:26

Fb definitely listens. Ages ago I did jury service. The case was from a village I have never heard of. The rules are no talking about the case til finished. On the last day I talked about the case with DH and mentioned the village name and did he know it blah blah. As soon as I opened my phone to look up the village, there it was on fb with adverts for a pub in said village.

Mousefunky · 11/06/2018 13:27

Mumsnet does it too. I have had advertisements for websites I have previously visited despite having a private browser... it’s creepy as sin.

QueenoftheNights · 11/06/2018 13:32

@beltanewalk Yes I know you can turn off adverts ( I have!) but you also said you could customise your preferences , suggesting you could say what you liked to see, (thus arming them with information even by omission.)

Every time anyone uses FB either to read posts, 'like' or whatever friends' posts, or look at Groups, you are being profiled via the data. I know. Someone close to me is a data scientist doing this every day .

There is no escape. :)

WittyJack · 11/06/2018 13:34

A few nights ago, DP and I were really hot in bed (and not in a good way!). He suggested we get one of those dyson fans and we both fell asleep.

Next day, we both had adverts for them on Facebook. Neither of us had looked them up online in the interim. I checked my settings but the microphone access was/is switched off - can it hear any other way??

QueenoftheNights · 11/06/2018 13:42

LOL! It's more likely they used other info around about you such as your ages, location and type of house you have, and this made you ideal targets for an ad on air con on a hot night. Companies share data.

There was a feature in a paper at the weekend about how insurance companies were trying to buy FB data to profile people and target them with low or high insurance premiums based on their income and lifestyle. (But FB said it was against their data rules.)

NevermindMyMind · 11/06/2018 14:00

YANBU! I never linked my phone number to a brand new Facebook account but have WhatsApp and Instagram apps that are Facebook owned. Somehow it has suggested my previous childminder, ex's and my wedding venue, the only way they'd have suggested that is through my phone and email contacts!

WittyJack · 11/06/2018 17:40

Phew, that's a relief!!

Tessliketrees · 11/06/2018 19:46

Yes, it will have happened to many people (even if they didn't really notice) because facebook IS listening to you

How when I don't have an account or the app on any device?

Tessliketrees · 11/06/2018 19:50

Sorry I thought I had posted this earlier but didn't.

I don't have facebook, I deleted (not deactivated) my seldom used account. When I did have it I never had it on an app I only used it in PC browser. I don't have any apps on my phone at all, I can't put them on and have never been arsed sorting it so I can.

Am I right in thinking the only way that Youtube would know what I was watching on my PC is if it had software on my PC to watch what I do outside of my browser? My stand alone player is VLC and requires no kind of sign in.

Redglitter · 11/06/2018 19:53

I ordered some pjs online on my desktop computer at work last week. A company I've never used before. Next thing adverts for it came up on fb on my phone app. Couldn't believe it

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