Tech companies are spying on us, but their algorithms often fail to understand individual users. I get ads for products I just bought, like a purple gamepad, showing more gamepads. On Spotify, I skip every electronic track with vocals, but the algorithm hasn't noticed this pattern after years.
Using Google Chrome, I searched for Google AI plan usage and ended up on a Finnish page, despite my settings being English. When I travel to Germany, services assume I speak German. The PlayStation store mixes languages, and ads for smart home systems don't deliver to Finland. I see ads for 3D printing resin, though I don't have a printer, and for marketing tools I never needed.
My bank offers car insurance I already have, and an airline sends visa info that doesn't apply. Netflix asks me to select a user every time, with no option to disable it. My mobile provider sends discounts for children's products, and HBO recommends foreign movies without English subtitles. While tracking is inevitable, companies should use the data better.
Source: Hacker News · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing