I recently browsed a commercial website and looked at a couple of their products. I didn't enter any information, sign up for a newsletter or get asked about cookies (I usually refuse all unnecessary cookies). Almost immediately I received an email from this company welcoming me! How does this happen? Could this come from Autofill and do I need to turn it off?
I have never done business with this website although I have bought their products in a store.
This did not come from AutoFill.
If using Safari, make sure you have the options checked at Safari > Settings > Privacy, to prevent cross site tracking and hiding your IP Address.
You are doing everything correct and there is nothing wrong with being concerned about privacy. For those concerned about privacy, Google is not your friend, so glad that is not your issue as well. Not only do their accounts gather information about you, they also employ web trackers, which you have correctly blocked using Safari.
The only other option I can suggest is to delete the website data associated with the company that sent you that email. Go to Safari > Settings > Privacy > Manage Website Data, and search for the company name.
As for VPN, that is something I would not recommend for security/privacy concerns and it would likely have the opposite effect. Here is a very good article about what can be expected and is well documented.
https://gist.github.com/joepie91/5a9909939e6ce7d09e29
If you are an iCloud subscriber, Private Relay does offer a bit more protection and would be better suited then any VPN service.
I'm not a neophyte and I'm usually a little paranoid about online privacy. I have my Safari privacy settings active; that's why this surprised me.
No I didn't follow a link, have a Google account or gmail, and I searched with duck duck go. The email I received at is an Apple address but not my Apple ID.
Maybe time to use VPN 24/7
Peter Grey wrote:
Thanks for the VPN link. Interesting reading
No Problem! Some websites offer reviews for products even though they are paid to provide the review. This even occurs on well known sites such as Apple Insider, although they do mark the story as "Sponsored Content", it can be very misleading.
There is a specific use for a VPN, and that is to "tunnel" into a company network where the data cannot be intercepted. In this case, the employer usually provides the VPN along with the settings to secure the network. The VPN providers found this to be a great opportunity to market their products to consumers under the guise that it will protect their privacy and be secure, but this is just a marketing ploy as they sell the data that is sent to them and is another source of income.
Thanks for the VPN link. Interesting reading
How does a website access email address?
