
I asked an online tracking company for all of my data - kawera
https://privacyinternational.org/feature/2433/i-asked-online-tracking-company-all-my-data-and-heres-what-i-found
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nitwit005
> Some of the categories that I have been placed in are uncannily specific.

> the data broker Acxiom even placed me in a category called “Alcohol at Home
> Heavy Spenders” (was it because I went shopping for a birthday party at
> home?), and a company called Affinity Answers thinks I have a social
> affinity with the consumer “Baby Nappies & Wipes” (very, very wrong).

We tried a few of these services that match site visitors to
segments/categories at my prior job. None of them worked all that well. I
suspect part of the issue is that their customers ask them to create highly
specific segments that aren't possible to infer about people, at least not
without a huge amount of noise.

~~~
acct1771
If they even get one long tail advertisement right, it's a win for them.

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chopin
I am a bit disappointed that the article does not detail out, _how_ the data
was requested. I am pretty sure that when you ask "Give me all data about me
<name>" that the response will be "We have not filed any data under <name>".
I'd be interested in doing the same with Facebook and Google (I don't have
accounts for both) but I am pretty sure that I get stonewalled. I thought
about asking for the data associated with the tracking cookies they set, but I
am not sure whether this works.

~~~
dewey
Don’t you get exactly this data with some clicks through GDPR at Google and
Facebook?

~~~
chopin
I don't have an account on either. At least with Google I can't get any data
without an account.

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janpot
This is supposed to be the request form
[https://www.quantcast.com/privacy/data-subject-
rights/](https://www.quantcast.com/privacy/data-subject-rights/) However, I'm
getting:

> We are unable to find a Quantcast measurement cookie on your browser and
> therefore will be unable to identify any data in our systems or process any
> request for data access or deletion.

~~~
soylentcola
I didn't get anything at all on the page until I disabled uBlock. Then I
refreshed and got the same message you got.

I'm curious if these types of firms use other data (browser profile? IP
address?) to link data into a single profile across multiple browser sessions.

For example, if I wasn't blocking ads/scripts but I still had cookies set to
clear on browser exit, would their gathered data only apply to that session or
get added to some overarching profile of me as a user?

I'm less concerned about ads being tailored to things I did in the current
session and more concerned about the longer-lasting profiles built up over
time by credit card use, browsing history, and other data points. Seems like
more potential for abuse than if they're depending on something as short-lived
as a tracking cookie.

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auslander
It is new normal, just lock your doors if you want some privacy:

\- Safari is ahead of the pack with its ITP 2.

\- ad blocker extension is a must

\- private browsing windows gets rid you of tracking cookies (incognito in
Chrome, but Chrome is made by an Ad company .. :)

\- VPN hides your IP

~~~
Symbiote
The EU passed a law to limit tracking like this, and these companies are in
breach according to PI, so "just" starting the process to enforce that law is
a much better step.

~~~
auslander
Sure, pushing for new laws is very important, but in meantime, have some easy
protections.

I think restricting by law their _core_ business model would be not an easy
task, it is life or death question for tracking companies like this and
FB/Google.

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guitarbill
The consent dark pattern is an abomination, and IMO blatently unlawful under
GDPR. Which is why it's so important to raise it with the data protection
authorities. I hope they come down hard on this issue.

I've donated to Privacy International, if there are any similar entities,
please let me know.

