I'm getting a bit paranoid... At my work computer I had never done anything remotely girlish, as I deal with... let's say, heavy equipment sales.
But recently our local ad aggregator started to show me "interesting" ads on several news sites. Ads like makeup, cosmetics clinics, dress shops, high-end lingerie... And "coup de grace" - just before the New Year I was offered new nice breast implants for just 2000 USD... At my work computer... Whrere others can see it :-)
And I am quite deep in the closet... And I don't think I ever done anything... revealing on any of my work computers...
Comments
AI makes me go AIIIIEEEEE!!!
Do you have Windows 10? Maybe Cortana read you. I hear she uses that little camera in our computers to measure things like pupil dialation and breath rate when looking at certain images, and profiles users that way. Maybe that's just a rumor, but I find one can't be too paranoid about these things. It's always worse than we imagine...
What borders on pure insanity?
Canada and Mexico.
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computer ad
Getting those female targeted ads happens to me all the times. Specifically on Face Book but on other sites and web pages as well. My wife has asked me why all these ads for bras, dresses, etc. I don't think there's an easy way to avoid them. I said that it is just the way marketing is done these days and she's never questioned beyond that. She's aware that I have a girly side.
After ordering a couple articles of clothing I did notice the frequency of female oriented ads increased. As a test go to Bass Pro Shop (a "manly" place) and click on women clothing; bathing suit, skirt, shirt dress... and see if you note some targeting. Oh, yeah... Target was one site I ordered from too. When I go to my local newspaper site there are now more ads for ladies apparel.
I don't think these ads should be of much concern as I say the ads are "random" to anyone interested. But they aren't purely random. Good luck. Let us know if you try this test and what the results are.
Donna
I'm about 7000 km from "Target" market :-)
And yes, on some sites it offers me heavy equipment at good prices, data center space rental and other "relevant" things... Mostly... But still, some "girly" ads sometimes elbow their way even into manly power equipment sites :-)
And yes... Win 10, without tape over camera... :-( And I forgot where I (mis)placed a roll of isolation tape that is ideal for covering useless cameras on different devices...
Ad tracking.
If I view anything on Amazon, I can guarantee that I will be seeing adverts for the same product here on Bigcloset in the sidebar on the home page for the next few days (at least on my tablets were I don't have adblock installed). A lot of ad providers link to your specific browser to target ads to things you are interested in. Amazon is very good at this, but they are not the only ones.
Visiting online retailers seems to be a good way of picking up the tracking. If you have done any shopping in your lunch hour, even if you haven't bought anything, you may have picked up some cookies.
I use Chrome as my main web browser across all my devices, and one of the things is does is sync things between devices. I can read a page on my tablet, and see it in the history on my desktop. For this reason I make sure I'm signed in with a different account on my work PC and my home devices, so the two don't pollute each other. I suspect other browsers have similar functionality.
It is possible to clear all the data for websites by clearing the cookies. However, this is often more trouble than it's worth if you have saved passwords or logins for sites that remember your identity between visits, such as this one.
If you are allowed to install software, then an ad blocker is a good idea. Especially for those really obnoxious video ads that blare sound at you as soon as you try to visit some sites. Especially bad in an office environment.
It could be worse. The are still plenty of Viagra and penis enlargement ads going round. At least it's giving you ads that may be of interest.
Browser passwords
I use Firefox with Adblock, etc. I also use the private browsing functions although not set to the most agresssive levels. I do that because I mostly browse out of bookmarks and I know where all those are, I don't need to be told every time I choose something different. I also don't need any mistypes to be sent to Google, thank you.
What I do do is to get Firefox to clear out cache, etc at shutdown time. I really don't see the point in doing what many do, which is to leave thousands of tabs open every time and bring them back up each time I power up. The only multiple tabs I have open are usually for the site I'm visiting. For example, if I have three messages waiting I'll have the main My Messages tab open and then middle-click two of them to avoid having to refetch the main tab each time. Same with comments.
The password save function has nothing to do with cookies, it is a separate config file. You can safely nuke everything else and your passwords will still be there for the next time - unless you asked for them not to be, of course. You can also get them saved to a text file as a backup, say on a USB stick. Handy when you visit dozens of sites and the passwords for some have to be cryptic. This can be useful if you use more than one device to get your fix from.
Penny
Don't forget
to add something like "NoScript"
That will give you control over a lot of bits of Javascript that are used to track you every move.
It can be a PITA to individualy allow each domain (and there can be lots and lots) to get the page to work.
But it does keep your internet presence down to reasonable levels.
If you can and are technical enough, you can setup a Virtual Machine which you can 'do stuff' on and then once you are done, you can shut it down and restore a clean copy over the top.
Next, having separate email accounts for your different identities and uses is essential. I have at least 6 different accounts, all on different domains. Getting used to using 'throw away' email accounts is also a good idea.
finally, I never, ever click on shortened URL's. You have no idea where they are going to take you.
Always hover over a link before clicking on it.
Keep calm stay safe.
Samantha
it's not 100% but...
Avast has a really good browser security for a freebie.. it helps block web tracking and analytics. It blocked 2 web analytics just on this page alone.
but it gets worse than that. lets say at home you're being yourself veiwing what you want. then you go to work where you're secritive about everything, but then you make a fatal mistake... you accessed you're e-mail from work, or signed into google with your account. BOOM! your entire web browsing habits have now been linked to that new profile, the one you log into at work.
It's not paranoia when they really are out to get you. Google is better at collecting data on you than the CIA, and thier damn proud of it.
Just a little bit of clarification...
I was talking about _work_ computer. As in policies, licenses, compatibility with necessary software... And no "local admin" priveleges. So anything that asks for admin password to be installed - I need to bother sysadmin _and_ have an explanation why I need that particular piece of software installed...
And another thing...
My post was more about "big data". That it looks that some little things in my online behaviour match those of female of the species even when I browse pages about bucket wheel excavators...
:-)
Anyway, thanks to everybody for the recomendations, will try those for my home computer...
yeah
I buy a couple of tg fiction kindle a month
my ads are full of lingerie and shoe ads
an unfulfilled longing no doubt, but 320 pounds of muscle and
gristle just no use for it except to dream
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