"Sometimes In Advertising..."

Capital One Bank

Is anyone else freaked out by how targeted advertisements have become?  The advert above featuring a happy gay couple, out running up their credit card debt is from an email I received from Capital One who sends me almost exclusively "gay inclusive" images like this despite the fact they've never asked and I've never told them I'm gay.. And they're not alone, whenever I watch streaming video, I'm assaulted with ads for PREP and inclusive ads for dating apps... even the Ikea ads I'm served feature gay homemakers. Don't get me wrong, I'm in favor of inclusivity, but the problem is that they're just showing it to me and not everyone. When I ask non-gay acquaintances if they've seen these ads they tell me no, and are shocked to hear they exist. 

Of course the ability of advertisers to know who they're marketing to is because "The Great and Powerful OZ Google" and the "Evil Wizard Lord Voldemort FB/Meta" are all knowing... Our smart phones, smart watches, smart tvs and all the other IOT shit devices in our homes are always listening and constantly gathering intel about us... They know exactly who we are and what we're doing.  My son's wife is Mexican-American and fluent in Spanish, and when she moved in, all of a sudden, Hulu was offering us a choice of seeing our advertisements in Spanish or English.  And who hasn't had the creepy experience of mentioning something in a casual conversation and then the next time you go online, there are ads for it everywhere. I first noticed this a few years ago when one morning I was thinking of ordering some new work pants and I was browsing the Dickie's site... I ran out of time and didn't place the order, but when I got to work and booted up my PC there, even though I never logon to personal sites at work, the first ad I was served was the the exact style, color and size of pants I'd been looking at an hour before at home.  I thought to myself, "Hmmm, they know where I work..." To say the least, I found that disturbing and a bit unnerving.

So far, all these details about what and who we are and what we've been doing has been used mainly for marketing, but whose to say it won't someday be used for a more sinister purpose. The government doesn't need to set up an apparatus to monitor us, the Titan's of Tech have already created it and convinced us to willingly hand over the most intimate details of our lives, and all that information is for sale to everyone including "big brother." Yes, I know someone out there is smugly saying that's why I use Apple, so here's a factoid for you... According to a recent article in The Guardian, and Apple's own reporting, the company handed over user data to law enforcement in 90% of the requests they received. "Well, yes, but I use end-to-end encryption!" is what you'll then say. And I'd like to point out for you that if they can decrypt it on the other end, they can decrypt it whenever (and for whomever) they want. In the digital world, there are no secrets.

A few years ago, I downloaded a packet of all the details Google had on me and it was 99% spot on.  Yep, I'm gay and black, college-educated, married to a same-sex partner, previously married to a opposite-sex partner, a homeowner, adoptive parent, etc... Even my employment and income were correct too. So if you're ready to have your mind blown: Simply go to https://takeout.google.com/settings/takeout, make sure every product is turned on, click the "Next step" button and follow the directions. Google will email you a link to download your data packet.  So now you know... the next time you feel like ads are following you around, it's no coincidence, they are.

"Fear Eats the Soul"

P.S. While writing this at 7 a.m. this morning, I had YouTube playing, I looked up from the screen and saw that I was being served a Radisson Hotel commercial featuring a handsome inter-racial gay couple enjoying drinks at the bar.  So, you're thinking, "Okay, maybe there's something to what he's saying..." Well  the mind blowing part of seeing this ad is that on my way to work last Saturday, I took a different route and I noticed a hotel along the way had rebranded, and while alone in the car, I said outloud to myself, "When did that become a Radisson?"  Yep, ain't that something!