I closed my Facebook account last month. I wasn't that worried about the data scandal, because my account didn't have many personal details about me. I mainly used it to access other peoples pages. I closed my account because of the collateral damage that could have been caused to people I had "friended".
Too many FaceBook users are unaware of the potential for collateral damage. You are to be commended for your decision.
Two things have opened my eyes lately. Google sent my phone a message, asking me to update stops along my last road trip to Berlin. Any place I had stopped for more than fifteen minutes was logged on the map from London to Berlin and back.
Lesson: take a burner on your crime spree and turn off location tracking. Jeeze!
Google is the biggest data collector and not only from their sites but from thousands of other sites as well. They are making billions of dollars, pounds, euros,
etc. selling data to anyone and everyone.
The second thing: I was browsing televisions on Amazon's site. I switched off and went directly to CNET.com/uk. On the home page was an advert for the television I had just looked at on Amazon. Wow! As fast was that!
Amazon breaks even or just a bit more on products they sell. They make their billions is in stock appreciation and the sale of data on who buys what.
Trouble is, it's getting harder and harder to use sites with an ad blocker.
I may be kidding myself, but since I have started using a VPN, I no longer get the nags urging me to turn off my content blockers. It appears the VPN gets the advertising so the site gets credit for it, but it does not get passed on to me. That is a win win for the content provider and me, but in truth the advertiser is not getting the visibility they are paying for.
The lastest thing I'm suffering is the endless blackmail emails I get from Russia and the Ukraine, which say they have caught me on camera enjoying myself while watching porn. I have 24 hours to pay up or my computer will be infected with a virus. I have yet to pay and it's a big bluff. I know it's a bluff 'cause my computer doesn't have a camera. Oh, and of course the other reason...
A double threat blackmail scheme! That seems rather amateurish for the Russians and Ukrainians. Are you sure they are the source?