Creepy. (Re: online privacy)

[two_bit_score]

I started receiving emails from a corner store that I sometimes visit. I went in and tried to find out how they got my address and the manager looked at me like I have 2 heads. The only thing that I can think of is that I may have used a CC in there at one time, and they are sharing my email address. As soon as I figure out which card I used there I will cancel it.

Some places use a POS system that will email you a receipt if you enter your email. If you go to another retailer who uses that same system and use the same credit card they will have your email address.

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[Jstpssng]

There is no place where I do that. If I want a receipt I take it home with me.

Upon reflection though, my LLBean card does have that information, and on the rare occasion that I shop there they always ask about emailing me my receipt.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Can we include non-creepy, or at least beneficial, examples?

I tried to buy some groceries once, and my card got rejected. It turns out that it was deactivated due to suspicious activity. There were a couple of small charges in a drug store on the east coast, which were not me.

They sent me a new card and asked me to confirm that no other charges were invalid on the final statement for the old card. Their assessment was exactly right.

I was amazed that they picked up on this so quickly and accurately, without generating false issues when I travel.

I had similar happen, they caught that my card had been skimmed before i did.

 

[zzvyb6]

Search for "How to make counterfeit money" and count how many Chinese ads for special papers and inks you get emailed. Also time how long it takes for the IRS and Secret Service to show up with a trailer.

 

[dmccarty]

My wife took a picture of a friend's son one day. Facebook popped up a message asking if she wanted to share it with his mother. I dug into it and discovered Facebook messenger was set up for facial recognition by default. You can turn it off if you can find it in the settings.

We have had ads come up on our computers and phones on several occasions for stuff we talked about and hadn't even searched for online. Google is most likely eavesdropping.

When our kids were younger and playing sports, I would take photos and share them with the team on Google's "free" photo site. I stopped sharing on Google when their software would recognize a face and ask me to enter a name.

Later,
Dan

 

[kco]

When our kids were younger and playing sports, I would take photos and share them with the team on Google's "free" photo site. I stopped sharing on Google when their software would recognize a face and ask me to enter a name.

Later,
Dan

I had a similar experience with Google's now discontinued application Picassa(which is now replaced with their Photo app). My niece sent a thumb drive with hundreds of negatives from the '50's to '70's. I put them on my Windows computer and looked at them with the Picassa local application (not online) and accepted the suggestion to use facial recognition and "tagged" the ones they suggested. I was quickly able to view all photos of my parents, siblings, etc.

The creepy part was with the 3rd-generation nieces and nephews photos, it matched their photos when they were about 8 to 10 years old with their present photos at age 50+.

 

[wagne223]

Every app on your smartphone has access to the microphone. Sometimes the app asks permission, sometimes you authorized it just by downloading the app.

The apps then recognize key words or phrases and updates the ads that are shown to you.

It is really a complex well functioning system if you can get over the whole invasion of privacy issue.

Just know that somewhere, sometime, you gave it permission to listen.

 

[two_bit_score]

I had a similar experience with Google's now discontinued application Picassa(which is now replaced with their Photo app). My niece sent a thumb drive with hundreds of negatives from the '50's to '70's. I put them on my Windows computer and looked at them with the Picassa local application (not online) and accepted the suggestion to use facial recognition and "tagged" the ones they suggested. I was quickly able to view all photos of my parents, siblings, etc.

The creepy part was with the 3rd-generation nieces and nephews photos, it matched their photos when they were about 8 to 10 years old with their present photos at age 50+.

Facebook was recently doing a "10 year challenge" to get people to post their picture from 10 years ago and a current one side by side. I couldn't believe how many people did that without realizing the nefarious reason behind it.


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[drssg]

When we travel we get calls from the credit card company confirming we made purchases. We also get called if we order stuff from more than one state in a day.

That’s interesting. The only false positive I ever had was when I ordered a custom motorcycle seat cover from a small business in Australia. I had to do an extra step to confirm to the credit card company that the charge was valid.

 

[Jstpssng]

I went to the hardware store one day, walked out to the truck and found that I had a bad battery. I didn't have my AAA card (and didn't feel like waiting for them anyways) but luckily found a CC in the glove compartment. I walked back into the hardware store to buy a battery and booster cables, only to have my CC declined. (I was 15 miles from home.) Luckily the bank next door was open so I took money out of my savings account, money out of my pocket and was back on the road again. When I got home I found that my cell phone and home phone both had "fraud alert" voicemails; I also had a text and an email saying the same thing.

So much for carrying a CC for emergencies, unless I also carry my phone.