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.
The worst device in any household is the router. Even worse when it’s a public one.
How so?
Everything is connected through it, to the internet. All your devices have the same IP when connecting with the outside. If your ISP has access to it (most common setup unless you have your own router) they can see every bit of traffic going through it (tho they can’t decrypt encrypted traffic, there is tons of personal information going through it). The standard insecure router is not difficult to compromise (especially a public one), resulting in compromised networks. A company like Google or Facebook, even without having an account with them, can get a good profile of each member in your household simply through tracking traffic (IP and device foremost). Not mentioning the “deals” they have to obtain or share this data with each other.
A VPN solves a lot of those issues, or at least obscures it, there’s still fingerprinting.
Decent ISPs will configure their routers mostly locked down, but some don’t at all. It’s great if they allow you to configure it yourself lest you know what you’re doing.
If you’re using it bare naked, don’t be surprised your SO’s phone or your Smart TV shows ads for stuff you’ve been searching for in your phone at night alone in the bathroom. Even when none of the services are logged in or from the same company. It’s any tracking company’s moneymaker.
They don’t need access to your gateway to analyze your traffic.
I have never heard of a router phoning home to report traffic.
Most routers are made in China. Not sure if I need to explain more because we are in a privacy forum… Guess people here are discovering, not discussing…