I just went "window shopping" for something on Amazon -- all I did was click open a link on a product to read about it in detail -- and then when I returned to Facebook, that very item was showing up in the ads along the right side of the page. Wow, talk about lack of privacy! We're watched, everywhere we go, everything we do! Big Brother is watching.

It started many years ago when credit cards were tracked for marketing purposes.

That's happened to me too, SciFi ~ it was somewhat unnerving the first couple of times ~ which leads me to a question for Jabra ~ Jab, could some of this cross-selling of personal info be avoided by using a proxy?

Agreed, oskar ~ marketing tactics have been honed with laser beam precision ~ and that's a primary reason why I am so rabid about keeping VoC free from ads ~ we paid for "gold" in yuku, which worked for a couple of years ~ but then the "text ads" [words within posts "magically" becoming live links to ads] started popping up, even for "gold" groups ~ that was the proverbial "straw that broke the camel's back" for me ~

Sooz

I have also noticed this.

The difference here is that I didn't purchase anything.

And the information of what I had looked at was shared with another business without my consent.

It would be like your looking at a particular shirt at JC Penny, you decide to not buy it, then when you walk into Sears they have that very shirt pushed to the front door so you see when you walk in.

I think it's called "cookies"....

Nor are we "many years ago". BTW, my father predicted all this stuff during the 60s. Most thought he was nuts.

I get what you're saying, SciFi ~ but this boils down to the "opt in/opt out" argument ~ I'm thinking if you use a service or a site that does not have a cohesive privacy policy, you are tacitly agreeing to whatever the policies of that service or site are ~ as the old saying says: the devil is in the details ~

Sooz

OMG, now I'm seeing that item on PhotoBucket!

I should mention that the only reason I'm only now noticing this happening is because ordinarily I use AdBlock Plus so I never see ads, but it became corrupted somehow and I haven't bothered to download a new copy yet.

It's companies like Google and their "Google ad sense" which stores every search in their database and send you the right ads taylored just for you.
I hate this shit and therefor use adblock plus religiously. In browser options I made sure that websites do not track me. No popup windows either. On certain websites I use a firefox addon where I can use a CSS overlay which hides banners, logos, ads.

Did I mention I hate ads/commercials/etc?
I even had blocked some sites which Sooz used videos from and pictures. I only saw empty posts until I unblocked that domain.

Here is the stupidest part- I have purchased an item and then the ads come advertising the same item. If I just bought a jacket or a pair of snowboard boots why would anyone think that I was going to buy another the same day?

RFID is going to take this to a whole new level.