Oh, goody.  If we believe them, our smartphone vendors will no longer be selling our data to folks whose express desire is to violate our privacy.

Shouldn’t that make us feel better, safer, happier?  As the Wizard of Oz said “Not so fast, NOT SO FAST.  [We] must give this a little thought”.   Because there’s way more going on than meets the naked eye!

Let’s assume you are like me.   (Paranoid?).   You’ve deactivated location services and opted out of Facebook ads.  (I don’t use Instagram- but you need to do the same there.)

We’re safe, right?

Nope!

First of all, many apps share data with other folks – other vendors (we can assume they are not competitors) as well as with Facebook.  Without so informing us.  (They have the audacity to call this standard industry practice!!!!  Only because TheDonald reversed the privacy regs that were about to take hold before he assumed his kingship.  Oops. We mean his Presidency.  He just assumes he holds the executive, legislative, and judicial powers all to himself.)

And, let’s consider these facts.  You are at your favorite coffee shop.  Here you are, sitting in Straybucks,  sipping on your coffee, using their WiFi connection.  With location services turned off.  Seeking out some new tires for your car.

All of a sudden, your Facebook account and your search browser are popping up with ads for Michelin, Bridgestone, and Goodyear tires being sold within 10 miles of where you are sitting.

How the heck did that happen?

You see Brenda over there in the corner?   She has location services turned on.  And, you both are using the same IP (internet protocol) address.  [When you are sharing a WiFi connection, everyone on that connection has the same address.]  So, now, everyone knows exactly where you are.

And, the situation can get even worse.  If you elect to “check in” with Facebook saying you are at St. Elmo’s or National Airport, there’s no need to check your location services.  You already gave them the information you thought you were hiding.  (Doesn’t that sound simply stupid on our part?)

But, wait.  Maybe, you are like me, and use a VPN.  These Virtual Private Networks mask your IP address. In my case, that address may be match those in use over in San Francisco or Israel.  So, it’s much harder for the app vendors to target me with ads.

But, there are other techniques vendors use.  They match what we seek with what others seek.  Like the way juries are modeled on Bull (the CBS TV show, but as is done by many a jury consultancy), vendors know how to compare our known behavior with that of others and then target our profiles with the trends and correlations that match what they think they know about us.

Or, worse yet.  SpyingVendor knows you’ve been researching baby clothes and lactation sites.   Given their vast collection of (illegal) data, they can determine you are just like “Wanda”  and “Betty”, who need nursing bras.  And, inundate you with said information.  (What we call spam.)

There’s more (of course).  Folks like Facebook won’t leave their ability to charge vendors to help them sell us something to chance like that.  They provide app developers special tools that violate our privacy.  Like the Pixel Web Tracker.  Or their “SDK [as in software development kit]” tool.  These insidious “tools” let us be tracked when we visit vendor’s sites- and then target us with ads on Facebook (and/or Instagram).  By the way, the BS that Facebook slings saying “not allowed” to be inundated with “Ads based on data from partners”?   That setting has no means to turn off these two ‘tools’.

Before you feel smug that you have disassociated yourself from Facebook- just remember Google has the same sort of tools; that’s how they make money, too.

This is exactly why we need privacy regulation and new privacy laws.  To keep us protected from illegal searches.

NOW!