{"id":242845,"date":"2021-05-05T16:06:19","date_gmt":"2021-05-05T13:06:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/signals-smartass-ad-exposes-facebooks-creepy-data-collection\/"},"modified":"2021-05-05T16:06:19","modified_gmt":"2021-05-05T13:06:19","slug":"signals-smartass-ad-exposes-facebooks-creepy-data-collection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/signals-smartass-ad-exposes-facebooks-creepy-data-collection\/","title":{"rendered":"#Signal\u2019s smartass ad exposes Facebook\u2019s creepy data collection"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Signal\u2019s smartass ad exposes Facebook<\/a>\u2019s creepy data collection<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

Facebook is notorious for generating creepily personal ads from reams of user data, but most people don\u2019t understand how the system works.<\/p>\n

Now, an attack ad campaign by Signal has shone some light on the opaque surveillance dragnet.<\/p>\n

The privacy-focused\u00a0messaging app<\/a> tried to buy<\/a> \u201cmulti-variant targeted\u201d ads on Instagram to show what parent company Facebook knows about its users.<\/p>\n

The campaign aimed to expose how Facebook\u2019s array of services harvest user information to personalize ads. Advertisers can use the enormous range of data points to target audiences based on their location, age, demographics, interests, and behavior.<\/p>\n

[Read:\u00a03 new technologies ecommerce brands can use to connect better with customers]<\/em><\/p>\n

The resulting adverts can be eerily intimate<\/a>\u00a0and potentially harmful. Just last week, researchers found that Facebook had allowed advertisers to target teenage children<\/a> interested in smoking, gambling, and extreme weight loss.<\/p>\n

Signal\u2019s plan was to use Facebook\u2019s own tools to highlight these practices.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ad would simply display some of the information collected about the viewer which the advertising platform uses,\u201d\u00a0Signal said in a blog post<\/a>. \u201cFacebook was not into that idea.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

According to Signal, Facebook promptly disabled the ad account. Facebook denied<\/a> that the account has been shut down and dismissed the ads as a publicity stunt. But Signal has maintained the claim.<\/p>\n

The company also shared examples of what Facebook ads would look like if they were open about the targeting.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Credit: Signal <\/figcaption>
<\/a>Don\u2019t expect to see these ads on Instagram any time soon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It might be merely a publicity stunt designed to attract more WhatsApp users to Signal, but it still effectively unmasks how ad targeting works.<\/p>\n

Greetings Humanoids! Did you know we have a news<\/a>letter all about AI? You can subscribe to it right here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n