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Sponsored content on firefox

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  • Last reply by TyDraniu

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I am visiting mymother who likes to eat in a local supermarket where they have a cafe. I paid for our meal using cash and I did not use the in store wifi and did not interact with any in store services.

I get back to my mothers apartment and open firefox to do some browsing, the first thing I see is a sponsored ad for the supermarket I have just been in.

So two questions, I understand that my phone number can become visible if I interact with a local service. But no interaction took place but they still worked out who I am and where I was. How was this done?

Secondly some financial interaction has presumably taken place between firefox and whoever controls the advertising for the supermarket. So they put out some kind of call to say "this guy has just been in our supermarket and we want to hit him with some linked content" and firefox have put up there hand and said "yep we got him right here, you pay us x and we will stick a link on his opening page"

So how does that work with firefox? so they say thay are a privacy web brower but they appear to have just sold me off to a supermarket?

I am visiting mymother who likes to eat in a local supermarket where they have a cafe. I paid for our meal using cash and I did not use the in store wifi and did not interact with any in store services. I get back to my mothers apartment and open firefox to do some browsing, the first thing I see is a sponsored ad for the supermarket I have just been in. So two questions, I understand that my phone number can become visible if I interact with a local service. But no interaction took place but they still worked out who I am and where I was. How was this done? Secondly some financial interaction has presumably taken place between firefox and whoever controls the advertising for the supermarket. So they put out some kind of call to say "this guy has just been in our supermarket and we want to hit him with some linked content" and firefox have put up there hand and said "yep we got him right here, you pay us x and we will stick a link on his opening page" So how does that work with firefox? so they say thay are a privacy web brower but they appear to have just sold me off to a supermarket?

All Replies (2)

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If you login to sites or don't clear cookie/cache/history sites do have ways to track your activities to their sites. As to your phone number Firefox forum users have no comments on that issue. All sites have cookies tracking and if you have a login they will track your activates more unless you log off of them. Privacy is a two street you can't access their site if they can't track whom is coming to their site. Firefox doesn't do the tracking that is from the site and your login that does the tracking for them. Firefox has no financial interest only the sites you visit or have login associated with them have interest.

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We didn't sell you off. You could see sponsored walmart icon just like a lot of people.

Please read Sponsored shortcuts on the New Tab page.