EPIC Complains To FTC About Google's Credit Card Tracking

[Guest]

You know Google tracks your online activities; did you know it also collects information about what you do offline?

EPIC Complains To FTC About Google's Credit Card Tracking : Read more

 

[derekullo]

I don't click on any ads.

Noscript + adblock plus + host file from winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm

Take that Google.

I guess now I will have to start making purchases with Visa gift-cards from Walgreen.

Won't be long till i have to break out the aluminum hats.

 

[LORD_ORION]

"the things you talk about via email"

Not even, if you have a mic within 20 feet of you, assume google has run "the things you talk about" through voice recognition to cherry pick marketing key words.

 

[alextheblue]

I don't click on any ads.

Noscript + adblock plus + host file from winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm

Take that Google.

I guess now I will have to start making purchases with Visa gift-cards from Walgreen.

Won't be long till i have to break out the aluminum hats.

I hope you buy those Visa gift cards with cash. They're everywhere. Do you use an Android device? Do you use ANY Google-owned or affiliated services, or websites that run on Google or use Google services? It's possible in some situations for them to track you even with the precautions you've taken, to some degree. Also, it's not just one or two stores. Like the article says, 70% of offline credit card transactions, Google scoops data on. A lot of people link cards to services like Google Play, too.

I run an adblocker but I disable it for sites I like to support (such as Tom's). I knew they tracked me online, but I didn't realize the extent to which they collected offline data until recently. One night on my way home from work (about a month ago), I bought a box of Kashi brand non-GMO cookies at Giant on a whim. I have never bought or searched for these cookies or brand before. That night I was browsing the web and boom, ads for Kashi cookies (on a site I didn't disable ads for, that uses Google ads). That's when I really started to think about how much they track offline credit card purchases. The bad part is that I use my credit cards a lot - I get 3% cash back on groceries and fuel, just as one example. Plus it's more convenient, no trips to an in-network no-fee ATM. If stores offered me a 3% discount to use cash, I would go out of my way to use cash. Perhaps they offset the credit processing fees by selling data to an advertisement firm like Google.

Anyway, they claim to anonymize the data, but all we can really do is take their word for it.

 

[lun471k]

For those running an adblocker and that are a little bit tech savvy, you might want to give a try at Pi-Hole. Although it's pushed as a Raspberry Pi app, I installed it on my Ubuntu/Debian distros and all the traffic going through my router passes through the Pi-Hole. It has custom block lists. No more ads, no more trackers. Even my ChromeCast doesn't show ads anymore. Thought it might be useful to other people.