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Re: Google and Facebook
MG2009 #48964 05/30/18 04:27 PM
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Originally Posted By: MG2009
I get AD emails a fair amount on subjects related to WEBSITES which I have visited. My "Junk Mail" filter usually catches those.

This was the first time I received an ad email related to subject matter contained in a personal EMAIL . . . and three of them within minutes of sending my email.

Perhaps just a coincidence. Kind of freaky, though.

I can understand the email/email connection, but I don't see how your visiting a website could result in targeted emails.

How would the senders get your address?

There's got to be something in what you're doing that's making you vulnerable.


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Google and Facebook
artie505 #48966 05/31/18 03:17 PM
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Re: " . . . but I don't see how your visiting a website could result in targeted emails."

-------------------------------------------------

Beats me.

(see post #48600 earlier)

Re: Google and Facebook
artie505 #48968 05/31/18 11:11 PM
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Originally Posted By: artie505
I can understand the email/email connection, but I don't see how your visiting a website could result in targeted emails.

How would the senders get your address?

There's got to be something in what you're doing that's making you vulnerable.

Since WWI if not before, it has been a maxim among security circles that critical intelligence is seldom, if ever, the result of discovering single piece or source of information. Rather it is the sum of lots and lots of seemingly unrelated bits of data from lots of different sources that taken together become the "big reveal". The computer's ability to associate small bits of information from hundreds or thousands of sources in seconds is the key modern marketers rely on. They can gather much of the information from your browser including your IP address and use that to search through millions/billions of other apparently unrelated pieces of data gathered openly or covertly from any web site you may have accessed anywhere on the internet to find your email address, the sites you visit, the kind of computer you have, the browser you use, your purchasing habits, the financial institutions you do business with, hoe address, Social Security Number, etc.. At which point they "own" you.

How can you protect yourself?
  • Eschew the use of the internet (which is akin to killing the goose that lays the golden eggs).
  • Use a reliable VPN that does not record any of your data (check out NORDVPN, CyberGhost VPN, or EXPRESSVPN and there are many others
  • Turn off JavaScript in your browser (NOTE: that is JavaScript not Java which means you will not be able to use virtually any eCommerce websites
  • If you are using Firefox, Chrome, or Opera install HTTPS Everywhere (NOTE: HTTPS Everywhere uses Javascript which is a bummer IMO. (WARNING: When searching for a HTTPS Everywhere download the first site I visited (softonic.com) attempted to download MacKeeper which is a "cure" that is worse than any problem it purports to solve.
  • Encrypt your email traffic using PGP/GPG (not perfect but better than nothing.}
  • Use the TOR Browser and Onion Routing with security settings turned to maximum (which among other things turns off JavaScript)
  • Some of the above
  • Most of the above
  • All of the above


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Google and Facebook
joemikeb #48969 06/01/18 06:38 AM
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Originally Posted By: joemikeb
How can you protect yourself?
  • Eschew the use of the internet (which is akin to killing the goose that lays the golden eggs).
  • Use a reliable VPN that does not record any of your data (check out NORDVPN, CyberGhost VPN, or EXPRESSVPN and there are many others
  • Turn off JavaScript in your browser (NOTE: that is JavaScript not Java which means you will not be able to use virtually any eCommerce websites
  • If you are using Firefox, Chrome, or Opera install HTTPS Everywhere (NOTE: HTTPS Everywhere uses Javascript which is a bummer IMO. (WARNING: When searching for a HTTPS Everywhere download the first site I visited (softonic.com) attempted to download MacKeeper which is a "cure" that is worse than any problem it purports to solve.
  • Encrypt your email traffic using PGP/GPG (not perfect but better than nothing.}
  • Use the TOR Browser and Onion Routing with security settings turned to maximum (which among other things turns off JavaScript)
  • Some of the above
  • Most of the above
  • All of the above

The shorter version: Time to die and go to hell.

Re: Google and Facebook
grelber #48970 06/01/18 11:56 AM
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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".

Google. I have turned off as many preferences as I can, but I rely on Google maps, both on my computer and my phone. I allow location tracking on my phone.

Amazon. I use Amazon a lot.

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!

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!

Trouble is, it's getting harder and harder to use sites with an ad blocker.

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...


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Re: Google and Facebook
freelance #48971 06/01/18 12:56 PM
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Originally Posted By: freelance
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.
Originally Posted By: freelance
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.
Originally Posted By: freelance
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.
Originally Posted By: freelance
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.
Originally Posted By: freelance
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?


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Google and Facebook
freelance #48972 06/01/18 03:49 PM
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RE: 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. . . .

------------------------

Mystery solved. I was wondering who I was watching the other night. shocked

Re: Google and Facebook
MG2009 #48973 06/01/18 05:09 PM
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Stormy Daniels? wink


Jon

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Re: Google and Facebook
jchuzi #48976 06/01/18 07:14 PM
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Originally Posted By: jchuzi
Stormy Daniels? wink

Surely the quickest way to catch a virus, and no one will raise an eyebrow.


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Re: Google and Facebook
joemikeb #48977 06/01/18 07:16 PM
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[/quote] A double threat blackmail scheme! That seems rather amateurish for the Russians and Ukrainians. Are you sure they are the source? [/quote]
No. They say they are Russians or Ukranians and their email links end in .ru, but I'm guessing they are amateurs, as I haven't been attacked.


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Re: Google and Facebook
joemikeb #48983 06/02/18 07:57 AM
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Originally Posted By: joemikeb
Originally Posted By: freelance
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.

I've never run across any mention of collateral damage before...explanation, please.

Thanks.


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Google and Facebook
artie505 #48990 06/03/18 03:37 PM
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Originally Posted By: artie505
I've never run across any mention of collateral damage before...explanation, please.

Thanks.

Restating that, what sort of collateral damage could an individual such a freelance cause?


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Google and Facebook
artie505 #48992 06/03/18 04:36 PM
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I was hoping joemikeb would answer your question, because my answer won't be very technical:

Supposing someone has got a hack to your details on Facebook. When they hack your page, everyone you have listed as a Friend is automatically a vulnerable target as well. I can't find the links to the newspaper articles that came out when the scandal broke, so I can't be more enlightening, but you, your friends and their friends and on an on are victims because of the simple association to you.

What's the game? Six degrees of separation? Only worse.

Here's a random page I Googled:

https://www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/facebook-privacy-scandal-explained-1.3874533


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Re: Google and Facebook
freelance #48994 06/03/18 05:52 PM
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Originally Posted By: freelance
Supposing someone has got a hack to your details on Facebook. When they hack your page, everyone you have listed as a Friend is automatically a vulnerable target as well.

And, as I recall, all the people connected to your friends and to their friends were targets... and on and on. It started with an app that was supposedly some sort of survey. About 270,000 people installed the app but the never-ending "friend connections" allowed Cambridge Analytica to collect data on 50 million Facebook users.

Last edited by ryck; 06/03/18 06:07 PM.

ryck

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Re: Google and Facebook
ryck #48998 06/03/18 10:05 PM
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Originally Posted By: freelance
I was hoping joemikeb would answer your question, because my answer won't be very technical:
I tried two or three times but it all became so baroque that I couldn't follow my own train of thought. tongue


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Google and Facebook
joemikeb #48999 06/04/18 10:04 AM
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Facebook Gave Device Makers Deep Access to Data on Users and Friends Fortunately for me, I neither use Facebook nor do I intend to ever do so.


Jon

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Re: Google and Facebook
jchuzi #49001 06/04/18 02:00 PM
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This Wizard of ID strip seems very appropriate to this thread.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Google and Facebook
ryck #49003 06/04/18 07:29 PM
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I heard (quite some time ago) there was a similar issue with emails. Not sure if it amounted to much, though.

In theory, anyone who has my email can find out the addresses of anyone else I have in my contact list who has my email - but not without some real tech savvy (not some kind of app).

"And she told two friends, and so on, and so on."

Re: Google and Facebook
MG2009 #49028 06/05/18 10:16 PM
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Jon

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Re: Google and Facebook
jchuzi #49153 06/21/18 09:52 PM
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Who needs Big Brother when there's Facebook? What 7 Creepy Patents Reveal About Facebook


Jon

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Re: Google and Facebook
jchuzi #49506 07/18/18 01:50 PM
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Who needs Facebook creepiness when Google is far more ubiquitous and far more intrusive. So much so the EU just hit them with a $5 Billion fine — yes BILLION — for anti-competitive practices.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Google and Facebook
joemikeb #49675 08/07/18 02:46 PM
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This just in from the Washington Post

Originally Posted By: The Cybersecurity 202
Facebook is seeking financial information about customers of several banks with the goal of expanding the reach of its messaging app, according to the Wall Street Journal. “Facebook increasingly wants to be a platform where people buy and sell goods and services, besides connecting with friends,” the Journal's Emily Glazer, Deepa Seetharaman and AnnaMaria Andriotis reported on Monday. “The company over the past year asked JPMorgan Chase & Co., Wells Fargo & Co., Citigroup Inc. and U.S. Bancorp to discuss potential offerings it could host for bank customers on Facebook Messenger, said people familiar with the matter.”

Facebook is looking for information such as checking-account balances and card transactions, and one bank has withdrawn from the discussions out of concerns about data privacy. The social network said it isn't looking for financial information for advertisement purposes. “'We don’t use purchase data from banks or credit card companies for ads,' said spokeswoman Elisabeth Diana,” the Journal reported. “'We also don’t have special relationships, partnerships, or contracts with banks or credit-card companies to use their customers’ purchase data for ads.'”


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Google and Facebook
joemikeb #49676 08/07/18 04:24 PM
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Once again I sigh in relief that I've chosen not to belong to any social media site.


ryck

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Re: Google and Facebook
ryck #49677 08/07/18 04:37 PM
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grelber Offline OP
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Originally Posted By: ryck
Once again I sigh in relief that I've chosen not to belong to any social media site.

Amen.

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