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TheManInTheMac

(985 posts)

70. I dumped my Facebook account after I posted a picture of myself

Sat Mar 17, 2012, 11:21 AM

Mar 2012

and immediately got an ad for cheap prescription eyeglasses. I thought "holy chit! if their software can immediately tell that I wear glasses, what else can they figure out just from my pictures?"

I'm not saying Facebook is bad or good. I got nothing against cheap prescription eyeglasses. Amazon knows what I like and recommends things to me. I don't mind that; in fact, it's kind of handy. I'm just a regular, boring guy with nothing to hide, but that doesn't mean I want to be an open book. Social media is a cool and easy way to keep in touch with people, but just remember: you aren't their customer, you are their product.

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I Didn't Tell Facebook I'm Engaged, So Why Is It Asking About My Fianc�? [View all] Julian Englis Mar 2012 OP

Yet another reason to make only SheilaT Mar 2012 #1

I do email and only a little of that madokie Mar 2012 #2

email is heavily mined as well Xipe Totec Mar 2012 #3

Are you speaking of web based email or email from a PC based email tool, or both. My take is RKP5637 Mar 2012 #8

Fairpoint.net madokie Mar 2012 #25

Yep, that's what I do too, just my local company, not "gmail or yahoo or any of the others." n/t RKP5637 Mar 2012 #28

The internet is nothing more than an interconnected network of isps Xipe Totec Mar 2012 #33

I wonder how secure VOIP is? n/t RKP5637 Mar 2012 #34

Yep, same here!!! Also, I would never have a Facebook or Twitter account either. n/t RKP5637 Mar 2012 #6

I dumped Facebook six months ago. anti-alec Mar 2012 #73

The add that just popped up on DU was for wedding rings!!! Rex Mar 2012 #4

It's probably just a matter of time. "I for one am getting the canned veggys all lined up in RKP5637 Mar 2012 #9

They will say, 'impossible how could that happen?' Rex Mar 2012 #12

It must be the water!!! Have lots of chemical free water on hand! n/t RKP5637 Mar 2012 #13

Too late...you drank some of the water yesterday!!! Rex Mar 2012 #16

Yep!!! LOL RKP5637 Mar 2012 #18

Now there's an ad for a place for the wedding reception. Scary stuff. virgogal Mar 2012 #19

Same way as google and yahoo have joined together. They said they would be reading the content of freshwest Mar 2012 #5

facebook used to mackattack Mar 2012 #11

I'll give it a try. My friends and I still have myspace accounts that just sit there. freshwest Mar 2012 #21

FB exists only to data mine and profile you for advertisers and intelligence agencies. It is not leveymg Mar 2012 #7

Yep, and similar to Google, Yahoo, Twitter, all of them. They are in it for the money. Nothing RKP5637 Mar 2012 #17

Then don't use them _ed_ Mar 2012 #36

I don't use them. Typically, anymore, I use alternatives to Google and anonymous searches. I don't RKP5637 Mar 2012 #43

What search engine alternatives? Would like to know why you think any are safe. leveymg Mar 2012 #57

Use proxify.com, for example. RKP5637 Mar 2012 #58

Thnx. I'll look into that. leveymg Mar 2012 #60

If you subscribe, then their system is always available. During heavy usage periods they RKP5637 Mar 2012 #62

ed - you may not want private data, but there are those who do. leveymg Mar 2012 #56

Of course _ed_ Mar 2012 #66

Not just Facebook _ed_ Mar 2012 #39

Their business plan mackattack Mar 2012 #10

Why is that wrong? _ed_ Mar 2012 #40

Let me check if I said it was wrong in my post mackattack Mar 2012 #49

I use mine for posting stories ans self promotion as a writer nadinbrzezinski Mar 2012 #14

Facebook are novices at this. Google is the real threat. onehandle Mar 2012 #15

Never use Facebook. And still, through email, get targeted ads related to topics LuckyLib Mar 2012 #20

Creepy? _ed_ Mar 2012 #37

If you have evidence that Google is selling information _ed_ Mar 2012 #41

Now I'm scared. lob1 Mar 2012 #22

Have you ever talked about cremation on the Internets? Rex Mar 2012 #23

No, but I got my ads in the regular snail mail. lob1 Mar 2012 #26

Yep, I get stuff like this too via snail mail gotten via the public records. n/t RKP5637 Mar 2012 #29

I'm an internet advertiser _ed_ Mar 2012 #44

This story's a good reason to use a pseudonym on Facebook. Julian Englis Mar 2012 #24

I'm an internet advertiser _ed_ Mar 2012 #45

It keeps suggesting that I befriend my landlord dana_b Mar 2012 #27

You gave them permission to mine your email _ed_ Mar 2012 #46

yeah - I figured that later dana_b Mar 2012 #59

Well, there's always the strategy customerserviceguy Mar 2012 #30

you Go Vols Mar 2012 #31

a better strategy is blocking the damn things. dixiegrrrrl Mar 2012 #35

Yes, but if enough people start using ad blocking software, _ed_ Mar 2012 #53

And the problem is what? customerserviceguy Mar 2012 #67

Screw you _ed_ Mar 2012 #68

I'm entitled to ignore any and all advertising customerserviceguy Mar 2012 #72

OK _ed_ Mar 2012 #74

Question about using Facebook on a public computer Jim Lane Mar 2012 #32

Don't worry _ed_ Mar 2012 #47

Sorry, I don't understand this. Jim Lane Mar 2012 #65

I don't understand the controversy here _ed_ Mar 2012 #38

I think what has happened is a misunderstanding. BTW, I agree with what you say, these RKP5637 Mar 2012 #48

I disagree _ed_ Mar 2012 #50

Not in the early days there weren't, and then they were long and confusing. And many sites RKP5637 Mar 2012 #51

No terms and conditions? _ed_ Mar 2012 #52

If you go back to about the mid-nineties, T's & C's were very weak if at all in existence. Privacy RKP5637 Mar 2012 #54

First rule of facebook or any other flobee1 Mar 2012 #42

I was talking to a classmate last night dana_b Mar 2012 #61

Not only do I not view this as bad, I view it as good. Hosnon Mar 2012 #55

Facebook Is Borg! excuse not to write Mar 2012 #63

Ad Block Plus Rochester Mar 2012 #64

No one forces anyone to fill out the personal info on Facebook. cleanhippie Mar 2012 #69

I dumped my Facebook account after I posted a picture of myself TheManInTheMac Mar 2012 #70

Oh, holy hell! Just after I posted this, DU is recommending cheap eyewear. TheManInTheMac Mar 2012 #71