OK, I am convinced that big brother is watching

I installed a new Samsung Smart TV recently that came with Samsung+, a collection of free TV channels. This morning I was scrolling through to see what was there and came across a show about building a 3rd Gen Camaro for Autocross. Naturally, I watched it for a few minutes before putting the kid on the bus. 30 minutes later, I log onto my computer and open YouTube (for work, I swear) and right there under the suggested videos is the show.  This episode was posted 4 months ago, so clearly the Samsung TV somehow connected the dots to who I am online, creepy. 

Your I.P. address connects the dots. 

Don't worry that is just Big Brothers cousin checking on you.  They are business partners so info sharing is crucial to their survival.

I read an interview with the CEO of Vizio a few years ago. He was proud that they updated the software for as many of their old models as possible. His stated reason for doing so was that they made more money selling the data on consumers than they did selling new TVs. Plus if you went out to replace an outdated tv you might not buy a Vizio replacement.

I think it's all fake and for the paranoid.  Coincidence.  

I joke with my wife that I need to buy a Rolex watch since I've arrived in life.   We laugh.  

The next day Rolex ads appear on Facebook.  

Now I changed my viewpoint.  

Wow. No offense, but I have difficulty believing that there are people who somehow think such data collection ISN'T happening.  And that's just the tip of the iceberg....

Datsun310Guy said:

I think it's all fake and for the paranoid.  Coincidence.  

I joke with my wife that I need to buy a Rolex watch since I've arrived in life.   We laugh.  

The next day Rolex ads appear on Facebook.  

Now I changed my viewpoint.  

The barkeeper asked us why we carried weapons on us in the bar.

I said "Mimics."  The barkeeper laughed.  The party laughed.  The table laughed.  We killed the table.  It was a good time.

The movie Minority Report (other than the pre-cogs part of the story) was a pretty good prediction of the future.  They nailed the advertising being tied to identity quite well! 
As they say in all the crime shows and books: "follow the money"

Datsun310Guy said:

I think it's all fake and for the paranoid.  Coincidence.  

I joke with my wife that I need to buy a Rolex watch since I've arrived in life.   We laugh.  

The next day Rolex ads appear on Facebook.  

Now I changed my viewpoint.  

pinchvalve (Forum Supporter) said:

I installed a new Samsung Smart TV recently

It's been revealed that Samsung's privacy policy includes a section that states, "if your spoken words include personal or other sensitive information, that information will be among the data captured and transmitted to a third party through the use of Voice Recognition."

Yes, your Samsung Smart TV has been listening in on your conversations 

On newer Samsung sets, go to Settings > Support > scroll down to Terms & Policies. Here you can turn off Viewing Information Services (Samsung's ACR technology), Internet-based Advertising (for personalized ad tracking) and Voice Recognition Services.

I don't know how relevant it is today.

I guess welcome to the last 10-15 years. Even turning off the GPS on your phone, they can still track you. 

If you're really worried about privacy, stop using cell phones, the internet, smart devices, and move up to the hills in Idaho in a cabin and grow your own food. 

In reply to z31maniac :

and don't mail order the seeds. Cash buy only, out of state.

Don't ask me how I know.

Was the Camaro episode good enough to watch it? The high offset wheels seem a bit less than serious to me.

z31maniac said:

I guess welcome to the last 10-15 years. Even turning off the GPS on your phone, they can still track you. 

If you're really worried about privacy, stop using cell phones, the internet, smart devices, and move up to the hills in Idaho in a cabin and grow your own food. 

The funny thing is, it doesn't have to be this way.  If a bunch of outraged people demanded of their elected officials that corporations not be allowed to collect this information, we could make it stop.  The fact that many people today aren't even aware or willing to admit that it might be happening  shows just how good a job corporations have done to keep these policies out of the public eye.  Sadly, most people just don't care. 

That is NOT Big Brother.

That is his cousin, Big Marketing.

"Ve haf vays of making you spend money."

1988RedT2 said:

z31maniac said:

I guess welcome to the last 10-15 years. Even turning off the GPS on your phone, they can still track you. 

If you're really worried about privacy, stop using cell phones, the internet, smart devices, and move up to the hills in Idaho in a cabin and grow your own food. 

The funny thing is, it doesn't have to be this way.  If a bunch of outraged people demanded of their elected officials that corporations not be allowed to collect this information, we could make it stop.  The fact that many people today aren't even aware or willing to admit that it might be happening  shows just how good a job corporations have done to keep these policies out of the public eye.  Sadly, most people just don't care. 

It's worse than that though. After the leaks the media and government worked together to make the people who have exposed this kind of stuff the enemy.  Forget the national and international laws and treaties that have been flagrantly ignored, the enemy is the people who EXPOSE the wrong doing, not the people who COMMIT it. That's a horribly dangerous slippery slope that it's already too late to come back from. 

Combine that with an attitude of "what do I need privacy for I have nothing to hide", throw in a little "it's just for advertising who cares as long as it makes things cheaper" and we brought it on ourselves. Not only that, we invite in to our lives for "convenience" or "novelty". 

1988RedT2 said:

z31maniac said:

I guess welcome to the last 10-15 years. Even turning off the GPS on your phone, they can still track you. 

If you're really worried about privacy, stop using cell phones, the internet, smart devices, and move up to the hills in Idaho in a cabin and grow your own food. 

The funny thing is, it doesn't have to be this way.  If a bunch of outraged people demanded of their elected officials that corporations not be allowed to collect this information, we could make it stop.  The fact that many people today aren't even aware or willing to admit that it might be happening  shows just how good a job corporations have done to keep these policies out of the public eye.  Sadly, most people just don't care. 

That sounds good on paper. Unfortunately, politicians are wholly owned subsidiaries of anyone with enough money. A politician's vote has a price and the corporations don't mind paying it. They are even willing to pay into the public coffers on occasion via fines. Bad corporation. Wink wink, nudge nudge. 

Toyman! said:

1988RedT2 said:

z31maniac said:

I guess welcome to the last 10-15 years. Even turning off the GPS on your phone, they can still track you. 

If you're really worried about privacy, stop using cell phones, the internet, smart devices, and move up to the hills in Idaho in a cabin and grow your own food. 

The funny thing is, it doesn't have to be this way.  If a bunch of outraged people demanded of their elected officials that corporations not be allowed to collect this information, we could make it stop.  The fact that many people today aren't even aware or willing to admit that it might be happening  shows just how good a job corporations have done to keep these policies out of the public eye.  Sadly, most people just don't care. 

That sounds good on paper. Unfortunately, politicians are wholly owned subsidiaries of anyone with enough money. A politician's vote has a price and the corporations don't mind paying it. They are even willing to pay into the public coffers on occasion via fines. Bad corporation. Wink wink, nudge nudge. 

Ding ding ding, winner winner chicken dinner. 

This is like expecting officials to vote for term limits, not be able to vote themselves pay raises, etc. 

Remember Facebook has a profile on people that do not have an account, they already have data attached in case that person joins later

That should frighten everyone. 

Toyman! said:

1988RedT2 said:

z31maniac said:

I guess welcome to the last 10-15 years. Even turning off the GPS on your phone, they can still track you. 

If you're really worried about privacy, stop using cell phones, the internet, smart devices, and move up to the hills in Idaho in a cabin and grow your own food. 

The funny thing is, it doesn't have to be this way.  If a bunch of outraged people demanded of their elected officials that corporations not be allowed to collect this information, we could make it stop.  The fact that many people today aren't even aware or willing to admit that it might be happening  shows just how good a job corporations have done to keep these policies out of the public eye.  Sadly, most people just don't care. 

That sounds good on paper. Unfortunately, politicians are wholly owned subsidiaries of anyone with enough money. A politician's vote has a price and the corporations don't mind paying it. They are even willing to pay into the public coffers on occasion via fines. Bad corporation. Wink wink, nudge nudge. 

But you've given up on the process.  People have to be willing not just to vote for candidate A or candidate B, but to make themselves heard at every level of government.  When's the last time you contacted an elected representative and shared your views on an issue that is important to you?

In reply to z31maniac :

They just switch to satellite and drone surveillance. 
 

Wait until you see someone wearing a hat then start getting emails from the company on said hat.  

In reply to 1988RedT2 :

This. Given the difficulty of reaching individual agreements on street signage, sanitation, and paving standards with each of my several hundred thousand immediate neighbors, it feels like we're just going to have to have some kind of organizational tier that represents us all to each other, and some people whose time is dedicated to that organization in some kind of representative manner in order for the rest of us to have time to build cars. They're going to screw it up, they always have, but I don't see a better approach than trying to improve that layer since one thing more implausible is doing without it.

Write letters to representatives. Write open letters to representatives and letters to editors. Look up whether there are groups who are already representing your biggest particular gripes and support their efforts (since this is sometimes more efficient than starting from scratch). I needed the prod to try harder again; thanks for that.

I hope that's a universal enough exhortation to be involved in civilization as not to be political; if not, I apologize and will delete, etc...

I do think one of the greatest tools leveled against improvement is the "clear-eyed realist" who's convinced that what we are is as good as we can be. What things did 1722's realists think would never come to pass have been normal for longer than anyone can remember?

In reply to 1988RedT2 :

The process is broken. It has been as long as I've been alive. I have zero faith in any elected official. They are in it for themselves and will throw just enough crumbs to the peons to buy the votes needed to keep their cushy padded jobs. Expecting them to limit themselves is a fairy tale we tell each other to hold despair at bay. 

The other group I have little faith in is the electorate. They are gullible and easily distracted by shiny objects. You know what they say about frogs and boiling water. 

OK, it's not quite that bad, but I honestly don't expect it to ever change short of something drastic. 

You saw the skidsteer thread right? I replied with a few auction links for Bobcats on Govdeals.

Fast forward to about an hour ago. SWMBO and I enjoy watching Toy Galaxy,  a retro toy/cartoon/pop culture show on YouTube. A toy show. Toy. Show.

So what pops up during one of tbe commercial breaks? Toys, right? Nope. A commercial...for a berking 10 ton Caterpillar front end loader. Not some dinky garden tractor,  a massive peice of equipment you find in a quarry. Why would they advertise this on YouTubes? To me of all people? The hell they aren't watching.