[eh_why_not]

> This is an arbitrary moral line, and if you that's the one you want to draw for your own life, then fine.

The moral line is that you do not spy on people in order to "improve" their "ad experience". Geography is one way to do it that's then acceptable.

> Why should men see ads for tampons? Why should women see a message telling them to get a prostate cancer checkup?

If a man enters a lingerie shop, he will expect to see ads for tampons. If a woman enters a man's cigar club (or whatever), she will expect to see ads for a prostate cancer checkup.

"Why" is because the only possible way to do otherwise is by spying on them. Anything that requires customizing ads per person inherently requires the spying.

> There's all sorts of value and productivity that can be gained from targeting ads.

And there it is. You see it as an optimization problem of "value and productivity", and there is no place for privacy in that equation.

Much like a factory dumping its chemical waste in the town's river. A lot of "value" is created during the process.