this post was submitted on 19 Mar 2026
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Privacy
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Found the sane comment. What we know for sure is that a combination of browser fingerprinting, de-anonymization (you can take anonymized hashed emails and compare them to hashes of known emails), and the third party broker marketplace that they can predict things with disturbing specificity like pregnancy, and obesity, to hidden patterns you might not even realize are in the data.
Plus there's enough statistically informed shots in the dark that drive specific ads that, sometimes, they strike with perfect resonance. That's enough to explain uncanny similarity. And the microphone listening thing is still plausible, but without stone cold proof it's just a guess, and it overestimates how much data they need to be able to track you and sell you shit.