Leaky Amazon Ads
Posted: September 16th, 2018, 1:06 pm
Dear Marge, should I be concerned? Amazon's "inspired by your browsing history" suggestions are getting a bit spooky.
I don't mind Amazon punting purchasing suggestions at me that reflect the things I've been looking at lately. But at the moment I'm getting suggestions based on what the wife is investigating on her own separate computer. It's not so much the pond weed treatments that bother me - she does that all the time - it's the kitchen knives and the drill bits and the drain acid that have got me worried.
Anyway, technically, how does that happen? Our two computers share a BT modem, which I access via wifi while her computer is cabled directly to it. Is it simply that Amazon are identifying the shared modem's address and processing everything that comes through that modem, regardless of which user/computer is actually doing the browsing?
Ho hum, so much for online privacy (and we're both using Kaspersky, BTW). But I can imagine that this sort of thing could cause some interesting situations in offices or shared apartments. The next time Amazon punts me toward something a bit kinky (I should be so lucky... .), will it be my boss or my lodger who I should be viewing through new eyes?
(For the avoidance of doubt, I have neither. Just saying.....)
BJ
I don't mind Amazon punting purchasing suggestions at me that reflect the things I've been looking at lately. But at the moment I'm getting suggestions based on what the wife is investigating on her own separate computer. It's not so much the pond weed treatments that bother me - she does that all the time - it's the kitchen knives and the drill bits and the drain acid that have got me worried.
Anyway, technically, how does that happen? Our two computers share a BT modem, which I access via wifi while her computer is cabled directly to it. Is it simply that Amazon are identifying the shared modem's address and processing everything that comes through that modem, regardless of which user/computer is actually doing the browsing?
Ho hum, so much for online privacy (and we're both using Kaspersky, BTW). But I can imagine that this sort of thing could cause some interesting situations in offices or shared apartments. The next time Amazon punts me toward something a bit kinky (I should be so lucky... .), will it be my boss or my lodger who I should be viewing through new eyes?
(For the avoidance of doubt, I have neither. Just saying.....)
BJ