YouTube Is Spying On Us

[MisterBeale]

. . . oh, I and I have no Google account. I never sign in, ever.

 

[MisterBeale]

One of the biggest problems, IMO, with USMB, is they use Google as their search engine. I suspect this has to do with ad monetization? I don't know much about web and internet stuff TBH. It annoys me every time I use their search engine.

Everyone should have privacy blockers on their browser, and be aware that Google is a partner of this site if they value their data, IMO.

 

[Nobody911]

View attachment 961167

The other day I mentioned Andrew Dice Clay once in a thread here on USMB, and when I opened up the YouTube site, the 3rd video that popped up was about Andrew Dice Clay.

YouTube doesn't just take your preferences and your subscriptions into consideration, but they track your surfing habits and try to provide you with videos that have something to do with what you've been looking at in the last couple of hours by accessing your history.

I didn't click on the video so it didn't show up again, but anything you look at or talk about here will probably show up YouTube.

One thing that's extremely hard to find on YouTube is videos that criticize Biden simply by doing a search. You cannot find negative news about Biden when you search for it. It will sometimes pop up because you looked at a similar content on Twitter. But never if you do a search.

Try it. See if you can get YouTube to trigger and show you what you're looking at on another site.

Why YouTube Is Facing a Criminal Complaint for 'Spying' on Users

A privacy consultant has alleged that YouTube has violated Ireland's computer abuse law by detecting ad blockers on users' computers.

www.gadgets360.com

A lot of websites( e.g. YouTube )use trackers, such as cookies or scripts, to collect information about users' browsing behavior, preferences, and activities. Trackers can gather data like IP addresses, browser history, location, and device information.

This data is often used for targeted advertising, personalization, analytics, and other purposes. While some trackers are used for legitimate reasons, others may raise concerns about user privacy and data security.

There are various types of trackers used on the internet for different purposes. Some common types include:

1. Cookies: Small pieces of data stored on a user's device to track their activities and preferences.

2. Web Beacons: Transparent graphic images used to monitor user behavior on websites.

3. Pixels: Tiny, invisible tracking images embedded on web pages to collect information about user interactions.

4. GPS Trackers: Devices that use the Global Positioning System to track the location of users or objects.

5. Social Media Trackers: Tools used by social media platforms to track user engagement and behavior.

6. Ad Trackers: Used to monitor user interactions with online advertisements.

7. Analytics Trackers: Tools that collect data on website traffic, user demographics, and behavior.

These are just a few examples of the types of trackers used on the internet. It's important for users to be aware of the different tracking methods in order to protect their privacy and data online.

However, users can take steps to manage trackers, such as adjusting browser settings, using privacy-focused browser extensions, or opting out of tracking on specific websites.

WELCOME TO THE ORWELLIAN DIGITAL WORLD! lol.

 

[mudwhistle]

Machine learning. You are doing all the work for them. The algorithm is just learning. If they can steal your passwords and credit card info and control your webcam, then it's spying.

No....that is identity theft.

 

[SootedUpCyndi]

. . . oh, I and I have no Google account. I never sign in, ever.

Me too. I'm not on any of those sites. I sent a video of swearing Parrots to my alt doc. because its funny.
He says every time he turns on his phone he sees obscene Parrots. lol

 

[JackOfNoTrades]

No....that is identity theft.

Sorry. This doesn't make that definition grade. Especially if things and money spent haven't been done in your name.

See your congress critters and let them know your concerns about AI and Machine Learning.

 

[mudwhistle]

Me too. I'm not on any of those sites. I sent a video of swearing Parrots to my alt doc. because its funny.
He says every time he turns on his phone he sees obscene Parrots. lol

 

[crossbody]

Apple is now joining the spy-mafia

AI bots will now spy on users phones through chat gpt. Apple users have been sold out to Arti (artificial tech)

 

[AyeCantSeeYou]

Pretty much every device you use to access the web or talk to another person has been collecting data on you. It's been going on since the 1980's.

The story of data: How did we get here? | MarTech

Consumer data has been collected since the beginning of commerce. What happened to make it so valuable?

martech.org

How Websites and Apps Collect and Use Your Information

Learn how and why websites track you — and what to do about it.

consumer.ftc.gov

 

[ThisIsMe]

View attachment 961167

The other day I mentioned Andrew Dice Clay once in a thread here on USMB, and when I opened up the YouTube site, the 3rd video that popped up was about Andrew Dice Clay.

YouTube doesn't just take your preferences and your subscriptions into consideration, but they track your surfing habits and try to provide you with videos that have something to do with what you've been looking at in the last couple of hours by accessing your history.

I didn't click on the video so it didn't show up again, but anything you look at or talk about here will probably show up YouTube.

One thing that's extremely hard to find on YouTube is videos that criticize Biden simply by doing a search. You cannot find negative news about Biden when you search for it. It will sometimes pop up because you looked at a similar content on Twitter. But never if you do a search.

Try it. See if you can get YouTube to trigger and show you what you're looking at on another site.

Why YouTube Is Facing a Criminal Complaint for 'Spying' on Users

A privacy consultant has alleged that YouTube has violated Ireland's computer abuse law by detecting ad blockers on users' computers.

www.gadgets360.com

That’s not true! I’ve not seen anything on YouTube about midget dwarf por…..oh uh…never mind, forget I said..nothing..

 

[Oddball]

Just add blockers to your browser.

DuckDuck's Privacy Essentials and Privacy Badger pretty much eliminates all of that sort of tomfoolery. I don't have much of that going on here on my end. And they block all ads.

Some still gets through, but usually it is my own fault I think. I have a hunch Twitter is the biggest offender. I have to leave the site all the damn time to look at those tweets.

I found ad-block to be a bit too much resource heavy, while not preventing that sort of creeping.

I added DuckDuck's privacy essentials and Privacy Badger add-on's, and it stops most ads, and they have really easy functionality to turn off when web pages refuse to work if you have them on. Just one click to turn them off if the browser your using on sites refuses to let you read a page unless turn them off.

This site will work with privacy essentials on.

How to boost your browser's privacy with DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials

It's easy to enhance the security and privacy of your favorite web browser. Here's how.

www.zdnet.com

Introducing Badger Swarm: New Project Helps Privacy Badger Block Ever More Trackers

Today we are introducing Badger Swarm, a new tool for Privacy Badger that runs distributed Badger Sett scans in the cloud. Badger Swarm helps us continue updating and growing Privacy Badger’s tracker knowledge, as well as continue adding new ways of catching trackers. Thanks to continually...

www.eff.org

It's been so long, I don't remember if the badger is on or off. I believe it is on. I my settings reset everything I turn my machine off.

And Facebook container.

 

[MisterBeale]

And Facebook container.

Those add-ons block everything from FB on this site. Added to that, on this device which I bought around a year or so ago, I have never logged into FB, ever. So, meh, no problems there.

 

[MisterBeale]

Pretty much every device you use to access the web or talk to another person has been collecting data on you. It's been going on since the 1980's.

The story of data: How did we get here? | MarTech

Consumer data has been collected since the beginning of commerce. What happened to make it so valuable?

martech.org

How Websites and Apps Collect and Use Your Information

Learn how and why websites track you — and what to do about it.

consumer.ftc.gov

1998's Enemy of the State was way ahead of its time. Snowden's favorite.

 

[Wuwei]

YouTube doesn't just take your preferences and your subscriptions into consideration, but they track your surfing habits and try to provide you with videos that have something to do with what you've been looking at in the last couple of hours by accessing your history.

I am never tracked by YouTube. I use the Opera browser and Duckduckgo.

Periodically I click the "History" icon which keeps track of everything. At the top of the History page is a button that says "Clear Browsing Data".
I use their defaults to erase the invasive data:

• Browsing history
• Download history
• News usage data
• Cookies and other site data
• Cached images and files

But I keep non-invasive data:

• Passwords and other sign-in data
• Autofill form data
• Site settings
• Hosted app data

Now, if I go to youtube.com, I get a totally blank screen with the message at the top,
"Try searching to get started
Start watching videos to help us build a feed of videos you'll love."

Other browsers probably have the same erase features or privacy modes. You have to look for that on your browser.

.

 

[Resnic]

View attachment 961167

The other day I mentioned Andrew Dice Clay once in a thread here on USMB, and when I opened up the YouTube site, the 3rd video that popped up was about Andrew Dice Clay.

YouTube doesn't just take your preferences and your subscriptions into consideration, but they track your surfing habits and try to provide you with videos that have something to do with what you've been looking at in the last couple of hours by accessing your history.

I didn't click on the video so it didn't show up again, but anything you look at or talk about here will probably show up YouTube.

One thing that's extremely hard to find on YouTube is videos that criticize Biden simply by doing a search. You cannot find negative news about Biden when you search for it. It will sometimes pop up because you looked at a similar content on Twitter. But never if you do a search.

Try it. See if you can get YouTube to trigger and show you what you're looking at on another site.

Why YouTube Is Facing a Criminal Complaint for 'Spying' on Users

A privacy consultant has alleged that YouTube has violated Ireland's computer abuse law by detecting ad blockers on users' computers.

www.gadgets360.com

They are also willing to turn over user data to the federal government based on what you watch.

If you watched certain YouTube videos, investigators demanded your data from Google

Shared YouTube data prompts civil liberty worries.

mashable.com

 

[scruffy]

Google's Gemini AI caught scanning Google Drive hosted PDF files without permission — user complains feature can't be disabled

Kevin Bankston, a Senior Advisor on AI Governance, discusses this concerning Google Gemini behavior.

www.tomshardware.com