Alexa Pepe
Aug 28, 2017 · 1 min read

Within the past two weeks this has continually happened to me as well. I’ve done zero online searches, I don’t follow any manufacturers, I haven’t been to any dealerships. Absolutely nothing aside from the private conversation I was having between a date & I could link me to the sponsored ad from Volkswagen that was on my feed the next morning. Scrolled by without any more thought until it happened again. After another date where we discussed Tesla & Elon Musk, same scenario — another sponsored post linking me to a Tesla model. They are not the only ads showing up on my feed — items that are relevant to recent purchases, searches, and locations that I have recently visited are also appearing. Instagram is undeniably watching us. Frankly, I’m alarmed by such blatant invasion of privacy. Just how is this information being calculated? Where do you draw the line?

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