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Picture this:
- You type on Google "laptop won't turn on"
- Google now knows you have a broken laptop and can estimate how desperate you are to fix it.
- Because it knows how desperate you are, it can increase shop prices proportionally.
You are going to pay the maximum they get you to pay.
That's algorithmic pricing.
The more companies know about you, the more they can predict and sell how desperate you are to other stores out there.
An internet-connected car knows much more about you than you realize. A smart TV also knows what you like. Your Alexa knows if there is a problem in the home.
Privacy is much more than just sensitive data.
It's about not giving leverage away.
Because algorithms will use it against you.
Be safe out there.
That’s not how selling ads works…
We're well past ads. There are articles that airlines will change prices on you based on your history. And unlike a laptop where you can go down to the store, you can pretty much only buy plane tickets online.
Was on some United flights recently with their new seatback media systems. The user experience is much better than Delta's, but also, they actively harvest your information at your seat to build a "profile" on you, they even ask you to choose the type of flight profile you want like "relax" or "fun" etc. and it modifies the content filters for you.
The kicker though, was on the last flight, when the lighting was just right that I noticed they have a pinhole camera installed on the lower left of the display, along with some IR blasters to power a proximity sensor around a software button.
Blasters likely produce enough light that the camera can see you even when the screen is off/cabin is dark. So they're likely building passenger profiles with visual data now as well, it'd be trivial to do facial recognition of "happy, sad, sleepy, etc" on top of capturing your movement in the seat. Did you just use your phone? Did you use the seatback screen? Are you reading a book? What food did you choose?
TIHI.
Guess I'm bringing tape with me on flights now.
*Since I looked it up for myself: How to Find Hidden Cameras on wikiHow. Specifically for IR lights, method 2 is particularly noteworthy.
I made a spitwad from a napkin, lacking other things. Will travel with a roll of electrical tape from now on.
Masking tape should work fine and is much easier to tear, fwiw.
Sure, but black on black may help the next passenger have some privacy.
Ah, true. Black masking tape?
Those articles have been proven wrong numerous times, but even if they weren’t, that has nothing to do with OP who is claiming that Google controls those companies prices.
"Because algorithms will use it against you." It didn't say google.
Where in the post did it say anything about ads?
That's BS. Assuming you haven't degoogled, try this:
Turn off your adblocker, then spend the day talking about how much you need something, like dog food, for example. Talk about relevant things, like how much you love your dog. Then go on a PC or phone that is logged into your Google account and visit some websites that use adsense ads. And prepare to be horrified.
Dude, I have a pi-hole, I block ads on every device in addition to the pi-hole. When I’m not at home I route by traffic through my home pi-hole. I know how ads work. I’ve even added ads to websites and used Google AdSense myself.
What they said in the OP is categorically false. Google does not control other companies shop prices. They simply sell a spot to companies to match a profile. They do not control pricing. They do not sell your data. They sell a spot that matches a companies targeting profile. If Google sold your data they would lose their biggest cash cow because other ad companies would buy it and decrease Google’s market share. What you are seeing is Google’s Adsense script running on people’s websites. Google controls that data, not the website.