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I spent a long time running an adtech program. The biggest secret is how basic most advertising systems really are.

Just because most adtech is the equivalent of Internet billboards on the side of the highway doesn't mean these systems aren't in place. You don't even need a very complex system when the entire device platform is designed to spy on you.

Take a look at this for example: https://www.theverge.com/23293687/amazon-irobot-acquisition-...

Even simple ad systems are a huge privacy threat. Add to that audio, location, and even AI screen reading surveillance, and you're screwed.

Both things can be true. Companies vacuum up massive amounts of personal data. And then they run it through crummy algorithms that are designed to increase the number of people who fit into a given category instead of accurately finding only the people who really ought to be in that category.

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