DooKey
[H]F Junkie
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2001
- Messages
- 13,500
Researchers at the University of Washington have discovered you don't have to be a huge corporation to steal someone's privacy. They say for as little as $1000 an individual can exploit mobile advertising networks to find out where you live and work. It's probably a good time for all of us to reconsider using any apps that are advertising supported.
And in the meantime, for users who'd rather not become a target of that individualized ad-spying? Perhaps consider which ad-supported apps you use, when you use them, and what they reveal about you. It may be worthwhile to pay for the premium version of that gay hookup app, rather than allow it to be populated with ads that can potentially track your sexual preference and location. Every ad that you see on your smartphone, after all, can in some sense see you too and so can the unknown entity that paid for it.
And in the meantime, for users who'd rather not become a target of that individualized ad-spying? Perhaps consider which ad-supported apps you use, when you use them, and what they reveal about you. It may be worthwhile to pay for the premium version of that gay hookup app, rather than allow it to be populated with ads that can potentially track your sexual preference and location. Every ad that you see on your smartphone, after all, can in some sense see you too and so can the unknown entity that paid for it.