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Facebook Uses IP Address and Other Info to Deliver Location-Based Ads Even When Location Options are Disabled
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Try searching "food near me" in Google. It seems they use your IP address too.
Edit: Oh, sorry, someone already said this on the first page.
Yes, it is much worse that FB does this even after you disable location tracking. Real false sense of security there.
[doublepost=1545208609][/doublepost]
Edit: Oh, sorry, someone already said this on the first page.
Yes, it is much worse that FB does this even after you disable location tracking. Real false sense of security there.
[doublepost=1545208609][/doublepost]
Shrug. It helped me find housemates when I moved, I can message my friends, and I've bought stuff on trading pages there. I block the ads anyway. Can't complain.
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Not sure why would anyone still use Facebook but what worries me is Instagram because its the only FB product that does not have an alternative. Someone should do it.
This internet IP thing is getting really concerning it gives out too much information, maybe they should be a new network system without using IPs. or maybe atleast shared IPs to camouflage the users. Its worse they still can locate you with stuff like your browser bookmarks, screen size, device used, and even time zone settings...
This internet IP thing is getting really concerning it gives out too much information, maybe they should be a new network system without using IPs. or maybe atleast shared IPs to camouflage the users. Its worse they still can locate you with stuff like your browser bookmarks, screen size, device used, and even time zone settings...
Exactly. I don’t get that either.
Psychology professor Robert Epstein has been studying this problem for a while and views it as a bigger threat than spying by foreign powers.
https://www.thecreepyline.com/
As others have pointed out, location tracking by IP is nothing new. But it is a violation of trust if you have naively disabled the “allow Facebook to track my location privacy setting”. Sure, I get it, the world runs on advertising. But the way digital advertising companies have collected and disseminated data is criminal, claiming it is aggregated and anonymous when it clearly isn’t.
And today, the NYT is reporting that Facebook gave other tech giants even greater access to your personal Facebook data, such as private messages.
And today, the NYT is reporting that Facebook gave other tech giants even greater access to your personal Facebook data, such as private messages.
Tracking of your location which you are unable to disable, for the purpose of ad targeting should be made illegal. Business are not allowed to send you product related emails unless you opt in to receive so why is Facebook allowed to track it's users using IP based tracking which cannot be turned off. It is also a breach of privacy.
The authourites need to look at this and ban the practice of IP based tracking.
The authourites need to look at this and ban the practice of IP based tracking.
Good point. I deleted the Facebook App from my phone years ago. I used a Safari bookmark to check Facebook from time to time for a while. It is a nice battery saver doing it that way, and when you shut it you know it is off completely. But now I don't even have the bookmark saved.
But I do have instagram on my phone. I use it to keep up with some famous people (basketball players mainly). But you can't do that through a web browser. Looks like they've got me.
Maybe there is a middle ground .
Imagine companies like Facebook, Google, Apple etc . would be satisfied with just getting filthy rich, instead of getting obscenely rich and milking all data .
Users could have their privacy , and even the most randomly placed ads would still make big bucks for the corporations .
Fortunately, times are changing, and the sheep mentality of some users doesn't reflect gains made by law makers recently .
You’re still broadcasting your IP if you are using a web browser versus an app.
Everyone is locatable from so-called anonymized and aggregated data. For example, how many people follow the same location points that you do for your daily commute and weekly habits? It’s almost trivial to de-anonymize all the purportedly private data that advertising companies have collected and sold. Turning off location services only partially helps as illustrated by this discussion.
The sad thing is that it’s literally impossible to escape the pervasive tracking that underpins the business model of the internet. Facebook, for example, has invested credit reports and created ghost profiles of people not even on the platform.
Nothing will change until we have legislated consumer protection laws and massive, massive civil suits. And even then, those minuscule actions are probably too late.
[doublepost=1545221307][/doublepost]I’d also add: how many of the people on this thread are financial supporters of Macrumors? If you don’t like advertising and the egregious privacy violating practices it has encouraged, consider actually supporting the sites you frequent. It’s a start at least.
Facebook and Google, the shining beacons of the advertising industry, only answerable to the only customer - the advertising industry, and will lure users with implicit agreement of providing seemingly free services for nefarious unrestrained mining of user data.
Oh wait, you are employed in the advertising industry, what conflict of interest would you have with users blocking advertising, absolutely none.
Oh right, the magnanimous FB and Google, they tried to provide paid services so that they don't have to mine data, but wait, they don't even have a paid option. Yup, thank you.
Oh wait, you are employed in the advertising industry, what conflict of interest would you have with users blocking advertising, absolutely none.
Being a financial supporter does not mean you still won’t be tracked. Just a FYI
As the article states, there are still "shadow profiles" that track you based on Metadata.
SilentPocket faraday bag and only using your phone when you actually need to is the best solution.
Server-side tracking renders your project useless.
From a technical perspective, these anti-ad DNS "hole" projects do very little to prevent you from being tracked. They simply mitigate some of the basic tracking implementations. Your DNS will also block the resulting ads so, despite you being tracked, you'll likely think you're "off the grid". Kinda ironic - the only blind party is you!
Sorry to burst your bubble - I work in the industry.
Clearly you don't understand how it works. If the tracker and the ad are directed to 127.0.0.1 then the server never receives it, now does it? So how can it track a user?
Server-side tracking. Your project only impacts network requests made by your client(s).
Drop the aggression.
And this is why I don’t have a Facebook, canceled in 2010. It’s why I use adblockers and anti trackers, and ghostery. I can try to stop their overreach at every level.
I’m surprised no one has mentioned about how banks and retailers do the same thing with your CC transactions. Every store can keep record of what you bought, and where you bought it based on when, where, and what you use your CC for. The real reason I’ve heard Walmart doesn’t want Apple Pay is because it’ll kill off that data because each transaction creates a new virtual card #. This is why I use the Elio cards from CapOne when shopping online.
I’m surprised no one has mentioned about how banks and retailers do the same thing with your CC transactions. Every store can keep record of what you bought, and where you bought it based on when, where, and what you use your CC for. The real reason I’ve heard Walmart doesn’t want Apple Pay is because it’ll kill off that data because each transaction creates a new virtual card #. This is why I use the Elio cards from CapOne when shopping online.
Absolutely. No qualms with that. So long as you’re aware that the Pi-Hole you use only mitigates the issue. It is categorically not a tracking prevention method. Same for all of those extensions you’ve mentioned. They mitigate some of the basics, for sure.
These are good points and I understand the argument, but what bothers me most is the insidious nature of the tracking. I don't mind seeing ads per se, and I understand completely that is how many websites are funded. I'm OK with that in principle. What I do mind, however, is being tracked, targeted, and having my information compiled and shared with others unbeknownst to me and without my authorization.