Marketing Coincidences

a reply to: Krazysh0t
Other than this one PC at home, I have.

Have she visited any website regarding internet privacy? cuz nowadays, if you show any interest in anonymity, you will be placed on a NSA database and targeted as an "extremist", after that you'll be closely watched.
I did know they have access to everything in your cell phone, ranging from calls and messages to mic and camera, but i didn't know they were selling the information to these companies.

better yet, instead of a background app on her phone it could even be your carrier selling your location out for marketing purposes.

a reply to: wagnificent

That's really creepy!

a reply to: interupt42

That's a good point. I suppose our carrier (MetroPCS) could be selling location information to third parties.

a reply to: RedmoonMWC

This one included. Every time you use google, you are sending them a boatload of information about you and your computer (including your location).

originally posted by: wagnificent
a reply to: MystikMushroom

She is actually kinda like him

. She is a dual citizen of Colombia/US who immigrated here via political amnesty, and her dad is a union leader in Colombia. She was specifically targeted on a US government list that required "extra scrutiny" when she returned from Colombia last year. She has nothing to hide, but these things are unnerving for someone in her position.

Maybe it's because of ATS, maybe not -- but I always get "extra love" at the airport. For some reason I have to have my bags/hands swabbed and always get pulled aside for a nice friendly groping.

I would hardly consider myself "interesting" at all?

originally posted by: jrflipjr
It's probably tracking her location and correlating businesses to provide targeted marketing. I know my phone is always asking if I want to turn on my "location" option. Sometimes I do because it helps me shop smarter. On the other hand, I'm sure the lizard people are tracking my every step just to make sure I get the ad for the latest coffee maker. Those dang lizard people!

^This. Or she has check-in software on that she's forgotten about.

There are ways to stop all this if you want. Or you can just lie back and enjoy becoming a product.

So, strangely enough, yesterday I was talking with someone face to face about getting a new netgear router for the house because netflix sometimes lags. Today at work on my break I popped on to check ATS, noticed this topic. After ATS I hopped on Facebook, and there was a suggested advertisement for a netgear router...I hadn't done any kind of search, or gone to any stores to check any out, I simply TALKED about it. I can only assume FB was listening through my phone which was in my pocket, or it's the strangest and most specific coincidence ever.

a reply to: wagnificent

Galaxy is an android, and those phones have difficult tracking options to turn off. I remember reading about that a while ago. I know they can track you through log-ins and where you work because I've seen marketing ads at home from Internet searches I've done at work and vice versa ... car sites and upcoming video games I've been watching bouncing back and forth.

originally posted by: KnowledgeSeeker81
So, strangely enough, yesterday I was talking with someone face to face about getting a new netgear router for the house because netflix sometimes lags. Today at work on my break I popped on to check ATS, noticed this topic. After ATS I hopped on Facebook, and there was a suggested advertisement for a netgear router...I hadn't done any kind of search, or gone to any stores to check any out, I simply TALKED about it. I can only assume FB was listening through my phone which was in my pocket, or it's the strangest and most specific coincidence ever.

Yes this is exactly what my girlfriend experiences on a regular basis. The email from Pottery Barn and Williams Sonoma can be easily explained by GPS tracking or other means of locating a device, but the terrarium thing is different. There is no "terrarium section" in West Elm -- they are just integrated with other displays. The only way they would know that we were looking at terrariums would be if they listened to our conversation.

The question is then who is listening to our conversations, and how are they doing it? My guess is that it is her phone, and if it is, then I'm sure she would like know how to disable this function.

originally posted by: MystikMushroom

Maybe it's because of ATS, maybe not -- but I always get "extra love" at the airport. For some reason I have to have my bags/hands swabbed and always get pulled aside for a nice friendly groping.

I would hardly consider myself "interesting" at all?

It seems that we have different definitions of "interesting" then lol. I would say that if your name shows up on a government list that requires extra scrutiny, that would make you a person of interest.

And I would guess that your extra love is probably related to ATS

originally posted by: wagnificent

originally posted by: KnowledgeSeeker81
So, strangely enough, yesterday I was talking with someone face to face about getting a new netgear router for the house because netflix sometimes lags. Today at work on my break I popped on to check ATS, noticed this topic. After ATS I hopped on Facebook, and there was a suggested advertisement for a netgear router...I hadn't done any kind of search, or gone to any stores to check any out, I simply TALKED about it. I can only assume FB was listening through my phone which was in my pocket, or it's the strangest and most specific coincidence ever.

Yes this is exactly what my girlfriend experiences on a regular basis. The email from Pottery Barn and Williams Sonoma can be easily explained by GPS tracking or other means of locating a device, but the terrarium thing is different. There is no "terrarium section" in West Elm -- they are just integrated with other displays. The only way they would know that we were looking at terrariums would be if they listened to our conversation.

The question is then who is listening to our conversations, and how are they doing it? My guess is that it is her phone, and if it is, then I'm sure she would like know how to disable this function.

I honestly wouldn't have noticed the connection had I not read your thread, so thank you for it. Personally I'm going to start taking the battery out of my phone except the times I'm using it. As far as I know that is the ONLY way to drop your phone from their "grid".

I also would assume it's not a person sitting there listening, rather a computer listening for keywords, accessing your personal information from google (most smartphones make you login to google for most features), then cross-referencing the data...even still, I TALKED about something with my phone in my POCKET, and got an ad the next day. Battery out for me from now on.

The credit card is managed by one company but works for a large number of retailers, handling servicing of the credit cards.

This company also provides predictive marketing campaigns that monitor your shopping preferences and tendencies as well as location on your cell phone and will actually notify you if you are near a store of theirs with a sale that seems relevant to your recent shopping preferences. It can also predict if you will like a new product that just came out based on previous purchases.

example: Epsilon...

It's just creative marketing, not a coincidence or a conspiracy.... the things they can do with computers these days...

a reply to: Infinitis

I haven't been in the market nor have received advertisement for a new router until today. I bought my current router 3 years ago. I haven't researched routers in the last 24 hours or 3 years for that matter. I haven't been to an electronic store in the last 24 hours. How did FB manage to specifically advertise the product AND brand I was discussing without either hearing me, or just taking the biggest guess ever?

a reply to: KnowledgeSeeker81

Well... Not sure... But

Why were you discussing the product you are speaking of?

What triggered that conversation and what made you take an interest in that router to begin with?

a reply to: Infinitis

"Why were you discussing the product you are speaking of? "

Netflix froze, and restarted the program

"What triggered that conversation and what made you take an interest in that router to begin with? "

Netgear is the current router we have, it's old. We aren't tech ignorant, it was the named brand we discussed.

I received targeted advertisement after that discussion. We discussed specifics like cost, wireless capabilities, and internet usage in the household. NONE of that was online, it was all person to person. Again, it's either the biggest marketing coincidence ever, or a computer heard keywords in our convo and advertised to me.

a reply to: KnowledgeSeeker81

Sounds like marketing, maybe voice recognition. Could be from xbox kinect or similar device. Doesn't seem likely to be by chance since most Facebook advertising is very user-specific. I would be surprised if it was picked up by a cell phone, unless you have the FB app on your phone in which case it seems more likely linked to your phone.

"marketing coincidence" itself is a bit of an oxymoron phrase... these days.

originally posted by: wagnificent

Sometimes she gets advertisements for things that she and I had spoken about in person without searching or viewing on the internet. She used to joke that she thinks she might be chipped or something, but after this weekend, she has started to seriously think that she is under some sort of surveillance.

gps tracking, bro. privacy options are buried, so the phone tells google where you are and google tells whoever is interested and is willing to pay for the info. you can disable gps tracking under privacy settings, but it'll also disable maps and etc.

a reply to: wagnificent

The question is then who is listening to our conversations, and how are they doing it?

Again , this could be done by your carrier.

We know that the gov't is capturing and storing our conversations and your carrier is most likely the first hop. No reason to throw away or not exploit good data.

Out of curiosity I checked one carrier Verizon but they are all likely the same in this Oligopoly sector:
www.verizon.com...

Information Collected When You Use Verizon Products and Services:

We collect information about your use of our products, services and sites. Information such as call records, websites visited, wireless location .....

and other similar information may be used for .....

In addition, this information may be used for purposes such as marketing to you based on your use ...

This information may also be used to .. help us improve our services, research and develop new products, and offer promotions and other services.

Note the research keyword. That gets them their get out of jail card if they get caught doing it.

Also notice the absence of the keyword "limited too" They don't use any keywords that say they are limited to the following , instead they use keywords that say "may also include".