"Private" Messages
- Spiral Out
- Posts: 5014
- Joined: June 26th, 2012, 10:22 am
"Private" Messages
Are our "private" messages subject to scanning by this site's keyword recognition software for the purposes of advertising?
- Eckhart Aurelius Hughes
- The admin formerly known as Scott
- Posts: 5765
- Joined: January 20th, 2007, 6:24 pm
- Favorite Philosopher: Eckhart Aurelius Hughes
- Contact:
Re: "Private" Messages
The keyword-based search index also does not index private messages, as there is no option to conduct a keyword search on private messages.
However, any sense of true privacy in regard to so-called "private messages" on webforms is misplaced in my opinion. Any adware on a user's own computer could scan the text of any webpage that person views, including the text of private messages or emails viewed on that computer. Similarly, ones own ISP can see all the text, emails and webpages that one sees. It's now recently known for sure that these ISPs share this information completely with the US government, which they did so secretly. Maybe they or the government also secretly share this data to advertisers.
"The mind is a wonderful servant but a terrible master."
I believe spiritual freedom (a.k.a. self-discipline) manifests as bravery, confidence, grace, honesty, love, and inner peace.
- Spiral Out
- Posts: 5014
- Joined: June 26th, 2012, 10:22 am
Re: "Private" Messages
I got an ad on the forum's main page in the lower left hand corner that specifically related to something I wrote in a private message and that I did not otherwise perform any general searches for in any browser window.Scott wrote:In any case, it is moot to the question asked since there are no ads on the private messages pages, so no they are not scanned to find ads.
Either way, I'm aware that the "private" in "private messages" is not to be taken as anywhere near an absolute quality.
Thanks.
- Eckhart Aurelius Hughes
- The admin formerly known as Scott
- Posts: 5765
- Joined: January 20th, 2007, 6:24 pm
- Favorite Philosopher: Eckhart Aurelius Hughes
- Contact:
Re: "Private" Messages
Perhaps you could test it out by sending me or some other agreed person a bunch of messages about something in particular that would be sure to have related ads, like cruises/vacations or debt consolidation, and then browsing Google or the main pages of this site to see if the ads change to something related to that.
"The mind is a wonderful servant but a terrible master."
I believe spiritual freedom (a.k.a. self-discipline) manifests as bravery, confidence, grace, honesty, love, and inner peace.
- Spiral Out
- Posts: 5014
- Joined: June 26th, 2012, 10:22 am
Re: "Private" Messages
2023/2024 Philosophy Books of the Month
Mark Victor Hansen, Relentless: Wisdom Behind the Incomparable Chicken Soup for the Soul
by Mitzi Perdue
February 2023
Rediscovering the Wisdom of Human Nature: How Civilization Destroys Happiness
by Chet Shupe
March 2023