[skummetmaelk]

Yes, everyone knows. That's why there are people in this thread and others like it, on a website catering to highly technical people, who are surprised at how deep the tracking goes and what it is used for.

Surely then, the average person is much more informed!

[notatoad]

i encourage you to talk to an "average person" about this some time. check with your parents to see how much they assume they're being tracked online.

most people i've discussed the topic with misunderstand how much they're being tracked, but assume that they are being tracked more than they actually are, not less. and they're totally okay with that.

[mkr-hn]

A common one is noticing that targeting works so well they see ads for things they've talked about and assume their phone is listening in on them. Though I wouldn't say they're okay with it.

[d110af5ccf]

I was with you until the last bit.

> and they're totally okay with that

No. In my experience they are very much not ok with it at all but have absolutely no idea what to do about it. I know what I'm doing with computers and I have difficulty figuring out all the different ways info can leak and how to plug those holes. In many cases you can't plug those holes without opting out of various services entirely. We badly need regulation preventing this stuff because in practice you can't vote with your feet or your wallet.