It's not even obscured anymore. I use the Sam's Club app...because lines. Not too long ago when I was in the store, I walked down the pet supply aisle. Later that day, the app sent a notification that said "👀We saw you looking at pet items, would you like to see more?" 😂

This is a topic I've been very interested in. Needless to say I've found it hard to find information about how that entire process works and is utilized. Do you have any good sources for that type of thing?

How many of these items would be prevented by running a VPN phone on your phone?

Mind if I copypasta this over to a much shittier social network where my real life friends hang out to share stale memes, post pictures of their vacations, and argue about politics?

I studied a case based on a large chain's customer analysis that utilized hyper-detailed data--we're talking thousands of data points. The report was then sold to an insurance company that, in turn, implemented it in their rate calculations.

An arbitrary example of the kind of insight they gained: the consumer of a class of product was x% more likely to miss a credit card payment then that of a different class--aftermarket car parts vs gardening supplies, for instance. And that was just at the macro level.

It was able, with statistical accuracy, dive much deeper, painting detailed consumer profiles, and predicting behavior. The targeting capabilities, as you've alluded to, only become more sophisticated over time.

What if I have my phone in airplane mode. No bt, no wifi, no data? I'm using my phone only if I'm forced to, which is very rarely, otherwise it is off or "airplaned". Oh and no credit cards of course.