Woman's Twitter Story Reveals How Little Online Privacy We Have

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mattstaff
Nov 16, 2019 11:00 PM EST

Talia Shadwell, shared a viral story on Twitter that spotlights just how little online privacy people have. Specifically, this shows how big tech companies keep a much closer eye on people using their apps than some people might expect. Scary stuff indeed. 

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  • 01
    Text - Talia Shadwell @TaliaShadwell Been debating whether I should share this but think it's a revealing and somewhat creepy insight into how big tech navigates women's bodies: Last week I suddenly began getting mummy and baby ads on Facebook...
    via @TaliaShadwell
  • 02
    Text - Talia Shadwell @TaliaShadwell I don't have children. But suddenly and out of nowhere sponsored ads for baby clothing, children's books and pregnancy heath were cluttering my newsfeeds
    via @TaliaShadwell
  • 03
    Text - Talia Shadwell @TaliaShadwell I shrugged at first chalked it up to one of two things - I'm 30 now and it made sense that my social algorithms might start trolling me like an overbearing relative asking when I'm going to get married
    via @TaliaShadwell
  • 04
    Text - Talia Shadwell @TaliaShadwell I also have some friends with babies. I wondered if it could be because I frequently 'liked' posts featuring other people's kids
    via @TaliaShadwell
  • 05
    Text - Talia Shadwell @TaliaShadwell It didn't overly bother me but it was curious how often the posts began appearing over the past week. And then today I made an interesting connection
    via @TaliaShadwell
  • 06
    Text - Talia Shadwell @TaliaShadwell Like many women I know - I use a period tracker app.I opened it today and found I hadn't logged last month's cycle it flashed a warning that I was very 'late'
    via @TaliaShadwell
  • 07
    Text - Talia Shadwell @TaliaShadwell Because I had forgotten to log a cycle, the app likely concluded I was pregnant and began communicating the information to third party apps and algorithms
    via @TaliaShadwell
  • 08
    Text - Talia Shadwell @TaliaShadwell I corrected my cycle in the tracker app and just like that - the ads have stopped
    via @TaliaShadwell
  • 09
    Text - Talia Shadwell @TaliaShadwell I find several aspects of this unsettling. Firstly, the likelihood in future that my technology is likely to know I am pregnant before I do
    via @TaliaShadwell
  • 10
    Text - Talia Shadwell @TaliaShadwell The second is less creepy and more telling about who designs this technology- it assumed, perhaps based on my age and the fact I used a fertility tracker, that I would be happy about being pregnant right now so began sending cheery mummy ads
    via @TaliaShadwell
  • 11
    Text - Talia Shadwell @TaliaShadwell The other aspect - which l actually found very funny- was how quickly the algorithms were eager to sell my mythical unborn baby things
    via @TaliaShadwell
  • 12
    Text - Talia Shadwell @TaliaShadwell Plenty has been written about the strange assumptions of these apps often pink themed, and designed with the assumption women use them to get pregnant not avoid it. We are used to having personal data monetised - but this is the most striking example I've experienced to date
    via @TaliaShadwell

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privacy twitter technology social media advertisment messed up
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