> Alex wrote:
> >
> > Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
> >
> > > I'm waiting for the anti-Google backlash. They know
> > > what you search, they know what's in your mail - yikes!
> >
> > Isn't this true of every search and e-mail provider?
>
> No. I ignore ads on web pages (though I suppose they might have some
> dark subliminal effect) but the other day I got a reply on gmail from a
> client about staking a tower crane and in the margin of the the gmail
> page I see an advertisement concerning tower cranes. What? You haven't
> seen any banner ads on random web pages about tower cranes lately, have
> you? Now my ISP could in theory fill fat databases full of all my
> predilections in internet content, obviously the data pass through their
> routers, all they need is tcpdump, but I'd bet they don't. Until I saw
> the tower crane ad I wasn't aware how gmail was dissecting the text
> context of my email there.
Right. Google's computers read your mail in order to target advertising (often with creepy results). However, for years, internet advertisers have been tracking your browsing habits to better advertise. I'd prefer they not do either of these things, but if you use the internet unencrypted, you basically have to trust that service providers won't use your information for evil or, at least, more evil than nosy ads.
-Alex
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