Ok I have a question. I’m kinda a noob when it comes to privacy. I’ll follow the guides and do the things to try to minimize ad companies selling my data etc.
Some basic stats: I have a Samsung running stock android. My GF has an iPhone. I use brave as my standard browser (I know that’s not super popular but I haven’t made the move to Firefox yet.) I have DNS level ad blocking on my router cause I hate ads with a passion. She uses safari.
So here’s the deal. I was browsing the web looking for gift ideas for Christmas and came across some moccasins I liked. I mentioned to her that I liked them and browsed their website for a few minutes.
About 10 minutes after that, she’s checking her Instagram and sees an ad for the exact brand of moccasin I just told her about. Just for kicks, she also checks her Facebook and sees the same ad there (makes sense cause it’s the same company).
My question is basically how on earth did she get an ad for something I looked up? And how can we prevent that from happening? It’s very very disconcerting to have ads pop up on others’ phones right after looking that thing up.
You have DNS ad blocking, but not IP encryption or DNS rerouting. DNS rerouting encrypts your plaintext DNS lookups, but your packets are still very much sniffable. If you aren’t using a VPN + DNS filtering/rerouting, you’re not anonymous. Also, if your girlfriend is away from home, she’s probably completely unmasked on the internet. Same with you. Your phone keeps that metadata. Also, Facebook and Instagram all use tracking software that tracks your activity even if you close the apps. It would be wise to delete your facebook and instagram accounts as they aren’t really necessary to live a happy life and they are actively spying on you.
If you really need to share photos, I’d recommend flickr or photobucket, and if you need to talk about yourself, get a blog. Your actual friends and family will find a way to stay in touch with you.