Ads following me online and now on partners phone?

MoodyMand45

I use ad blockers to stop most ads online which are able to stop all youtube ads but not all web ads as google allows some through.
I ordered a jacket from a well known website recently but surprisingly to me an ad saying buy it again was on my partners facebook when he handed his phone for me to look at something on his facebook app.
His phone provider is different and so is the facebook account ( in fact i don't have facebook) so although he is not bothered i am bothered by how ads directed at me can show up on my partners phone, any ideas of what i can do to guard against this, i regard myself as a private person and i use a vpn and always keep location off on my phone which i thought would stop tracking.

I understand that google allow some ads through these days but i'm unable to process how my information can jump from one phone to another, it makes me feel uneasy.

Neil_Jones

If you're sharing the same Google account...

And I think you need to look at cookie settings on these websites as you're probably just agreeing to them regardless.

HillStreetBlues

If you're after privacy ditch Chrome.

cerebus

To add to the above , you are allowed to name the website, nothing will happen if you do (I'm guessing amazon)

You are tracked everytime you use the net

Use a privacy based browser like brave and stop accepting cookies and if you are logged into something that Google owns and you search using Google then yes Google knows !

J_B

Or ...maybe facebook is *listening* to your conversation?

tghe-retford

J_B said:

Or ...maybe facebook is *listening* to your conversation?

This isn't as far fetched as people think. I've had Google ad recommendations show up from conversations I have had with other people with zero input to a Google search engine or Android phone. The only logical way it could have gathered that information is if it listened in to conversations. Virtual Private Networks can encrypt your data (as does HTTPS without a VPN) but it can't encrypt your conversations in the real world. We know phones do listen for virtual assistant activation phrases but the only people who do know if microphones are listening in for marketing data are the operating system providers themselves - Apple and Google - and all I have seen is silence, if anything, the mainstream media want to dismiss such claims as conspiracy theories.

The jury is still out on whether devices are listening in on conversations for data gathering for marketing and advertising but if it is proven beyond doubt, it has ramifications in relation to data protection, GDPR and privacy.

marcia_

J_B said:

Or ...maybe facebook is *listening* to your conversation?

 I always believe this. I've had conversations with hubby about specific things and got ads on Facebook without ever searching for anything online 

Newcad

"Alexa - where's my sledgehammer"......  "Thanks Alexa; now run".

Riverstone58

MoodyMand45 said:

I use ad blockers to stop most ads online which are able to stop all youtube ads but not all web ads as google allows some through.
I ordered a jacket from a well known website recently but surprisingly to me an ad saying buy it again was on my partners facebook when he handed his phone for me to look at something on his facebook app.
His phone provider is different and so is the facebook account ( in fact i don't have facebook) so although he is not bothered i am bothered by how ads directed at me can show up on my partners phone, any ideas of what i can do to guard against this, i regard myself as a private person and i use a vpn and always keep location off on my phone which i thought would stop tracking.

I understand that google allow some ads through these days but i'm unable to process how my information can jump from one phone to another, it makes me feel uneasy.

A bit more info would be helpful.

Were you using the online website or their app should they have one? The name of the company you bought from would also be useful.

PHK

cerebus said:

To add to the above , you are allowed to name the website, nothing will happen if you do (I'm guessing amazon)

You are tracked everytime you use the net

Use a privacy based browser like brave and stop accepting cookies and if you are logged into something that Google owns and you search using Google then yes Google knows !

I would caution the advice to use Brave. It's highly problematic. The founder was sacked from Firefox for funding  homophobia, it is full of crypto nonsense, it's been found scanning URLs and selling the results. And finally its a skin of Chrome. 

There are other better privacy focussed browsers. 

cerebus

PHK said:

cerebus said:

To add to the above , you are allowed to name the website, nothing will happen if you do (I'm guessing amazon)

You are tracked everytime you use the net

Use a privacy based browser like brave and stop accepting cookies and if you are logged into something that Google owns and you search using Google then yes Google knows !

I would caution the advice to use Brave. It's highly problematic. The founder was sacked from Firefox for funding  homophobia, it is full of crypto nonsense, it's been found scanning URLs and selling the results. And finally its a skin of Chrome. 

There are other better privacy focussed browsers. 

You do know that chrome which is a chromium browser which was built by Google and is open source is the basis for lots of other browsers not just brave

I'm also sure if you dig deep enough you will find lots of dirt of pretty much every browser company out there especially buried in their ts & Cs,  

I merely suggested a privacy based browser like brave as it was the first one off the top of my head , I expect people to do their research and pick one that suits them best

The only thing I would urge the op to do is move away from Google as that is one of the worst company's out there for hoovering up your data and selling it on