Where does the data advertisers have about us exist and can we get access to it? I’ve heard that each of us has an advertiser ID that tags each of us as soon as we join a new platform. It knows where we went to middle school, our teachers names and even our personality. I have it on good authority that even Chegg has access to your footprint across the internet. I would love to get access to all of this as I could see it being a more complete psychological profile than MBTIs or BigFive personality tests
In theory, if crafted well enough, you could use it to help visualize in a flowchart timeline:
• Your life story and common patterns between different chapters of life
• How you like to work, what your preferences are in people, content or relationships
• What others with similar life trajectories have done at your stage of life
Where does this data exist, could I ever hope to get access to it in a useable form (or buy it from advertisers)?

  • Intelligent-Baby-843@alien.topOPBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    met a guy who started the company that creates those terms of service agreements that allow them to do what they want with your data

    • feudalle@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      So I’ve worked in it for 20+ years. There is no single data point attached to you. You can track users based on ip address, cookies, logins, session variables, and a whole lot of other things. There is no single point that attaches to a person. Hand your phone to the person next to you,the phone isn’t magically going to know its not you searching. Or install a new browser and connect to a public wifi, it will also have no idea who you are.

      • Intelligent-Baby-843@alien.topOPBEnglish
        1·
        10 months ago

        Right, it depends on the advertiser network. I gathered some assumptions from the Social Dillema, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaaC57tcci0 but the truth is a bit more nuanced
        Do you think it possible to access or somehow purchase your data from advertising networks like facebook or google? If advertisers are able to get access, could you not buy it yourself

        • N781VP@alien.topBEnglish
          1·
          10 months ago

          These types of companies usually have a place where you can request to receive all of the data they have on you.

          For example, google

          companies will typically have something in their TOS or privacy policies that has an email or a link.

          I’m not sure about all this “purchasing of data” yak.