week 14

So something that caught my attention this week in the midst of the privacy craze, was more people coming forward with the story of how ads were popping up relative to things they never typed into their devices. A close friend told me she was discussing where she had purchased a certain necklace with an acquaintance, and the next time she opened Instagram, a sponsored advertisement for that store was the first image. She had never typed in the store or necklace they had been talking about, just had simply discussed it aloud. We just her voice commands and they were not activated on her phone. (In reference to the "Hey Siri"). People, places, companies are listening!! I haven't had time to find adequate research on how this is accomplished yet. If the story had involved a common store that you could find anywhere and not a particular one that isn't a big chain, then I would have thought it pure coincidence. However, the store in question was something I had never even heard of and she for sure had not visited anything related to it on any device recently. I'm all for the government watching and listening so that we are kept safer, but doesn't it cross a line if we're now being targeted for ads with what is said in a personal conversation?