Internet info sharing question

[RidgeRunner]

Ok I realize everything is watched and we have no privacy anymore, but this is intriguing.
I was on MY eBay account and looking up info on an item. Then had to print a shipping label, my printer is broken so I had to use my wife's laptop to print a shipping label. I always sign her eBay account out and sign in on my eBay account. When I first pulled up her account it was showing "recently viewed items" that I was looking at on a different computer on a different account. That boggled my mind some. How is her account showing what I was viewing on my account on a different computer? It was actually showing everything I had looked up on a different account and a different computer.
Now they both are hooked up to same router and Wi-Fi, is that capturing info and sharing it between all the computers that are hooked up to it? spooky.

 

[Longtooth]

Ok I realize everything is watched and we have no privacy anymore, but this is intriguing.
I was on MY eBay account and looking up info on an item. Then had to print a shipping label, my printer is broken so I had to use my wife's laptop to print a shipping label. I always sign her eBay account out and sign in on my eBay account. When I first pulled up her account it was showing "recently viewed items" that I was looking at on a different computer on a different account. That boggled my mind some. How is her account showing what I was viewing on my account on a different computer? It was actually showing everything I had looked up on a different account and a different computer.
Now they both are hooked up to same router and Wi-Fi, is that capturing info and sharing it between all the computers that are hooked up to it? spooky.

Yes - ISPs take and share your info too.
One of many reasons I think the commercially available VPNs are a joke.

Privacy is gone unless you are Amish.

 

[SouthBound]

Years ago, ebay used IP addresses to match recently viewed items. This means that any computer on the same network sharing the same common IP address would all match and, in theory, show the items that any other computer looked at. I would have assumed they had that fixed by now, but maybe not... ebay's coding is pretty poor and very antiquated.

The other option would be cookies and, if you ever logged into your account in the past, the computer (browser) probably had a cookie stored for your account as well as hers. You can clear cookies when you close the browser (most have a setting to do this).

I like using Firefox as a browser and it gives you the ability to open private browsing tabs which is useful if you want to avoid the cookies across the same browser. I add an extension called uBlock Origin which stops a ton to ads on the different pages I visit.

VPN's do work since they are setting up a secure encrypted connection between your computer and the sites you visit so your ISP really only sees the bandwidth and not the exact sites you are visiting. The issue with most are they slow the speed because you are tunneling through their servers and all the traffic is encrypted which adds a slight speed reduction. Many routers/firewalls today allow you to plug in VPN credentials and they connect to the VPN directly so all your devices are protected, but again, your speeds may take a hit over what your ISP provides. Also, you loose the location options (i.e. your browser may think you are in Atlanta versus in Florida) and this can sometimes cause issues with streaming subscriptions, especially if you have a VPN that uses random locations and IP addresses).

There isn't a way to be private anymore unless you ditch the internet, ditch credit cards, ditch cell phones, quit your job, sell your house and move far away on a deserted island. Even then, you couldn't start a fire because they would see the smoke and try to tax you for something or tell you your car warranty is about to expire.

 

[jettjon]

The answer is cookies. There are various ways to deal with that - do a web search. I recommend using Duck Duck Go or a similar browser for enhanced (not total) privacy.

 

[Longtooth]

The answer is cookies. There are various ways to deal with that - do a web search. I recommend using Duck Duck Go or a similar browser for enhanced (not total) privacy.

Correct me if I am wrong, but the way I am reading this, It can not be cookies because he used a different computer.

 

[RidgeRunner]

....

 

[IronBeard]

My guess, "same router and Wi-Fi" narrows it down to one IP/hardware address. I use the Firefox browser, and Duck Duck Go as my search engine on both computer and phone and don't get a 1/4 of those creepy adds others do.

 

[jettjon]

Correct me if I am wrong, but the way I am reading this, It can not be cookies because he used a different computer.

Thanks, I missed that. Several things could account for that including saved favorites on Ebay or the browser. Chrome is really bad about this - if you log in to Chrome it will share ads across any device. Hence I use Duck Duck Go.

 

[Longtooth]

Thanks, I missed that. Several things could account for that including saved favorites on Ebay or the browser. Chrome is really bad about this - if you log in to Chrome it will share ads across any device. Hence I use Duck Duck Go.

Basically, everything is creepy and Ted was right about the way technology was going.

 

[Zeroed in]

May be Cookies, and/or History. Clear 'em both and turn off the eBay History. See if it duplicates again.

 

[Longtooth]

May be Cookies, and/or History. Clear 'em both and turn off the eBay History. See if it duplicates again.

If its different computers and different accounts ( His and his wife's)... It can't be history or cookies unless he's using the same browser that he is logged into - i.e. using the same google chrome account on different PC.
What's more likely to my mind is his ISP is tracking everything. Everything on that network is cross shared. My wife and I have noticed similar. She gets Midway ads on her phone all the time.

 

[Zeroed in]

even if the accounts are synced?

 

[Longtooth]

even if the accounts are synced?

That would be the only way it could work. I mentioned that.
"unless he's using the same browser that he is logged into - i.e. using the same google chrome account on different PC."

 

[RidgeRunner]

We don't share any accounts at all, I'm with Longtooth, on the ISP sharing, it has to be.

 

[jettjon]

Basically, everything is creepy and Ted was right about the way technology was going.

You mean ole TK?

 

[IronBeard]

The more I consider your issue, and experience similar occurences on networked computers that are not mine, I offer two words.

Google

Chrome

 

[Bamaboy19]

I learned a valuable lesson about turning on auto syncing on your phone and letting someone log into their accounts on it, logging in to your account on their phone.
Specifically what happened to me was I had old phones in my nightstand that hadn't been hard reset to clear out my data. I always turn off auto sync, and destroy old phones now. I don't have any wires run into my home, no TV, or internet which is a moot effort at privacy by owning a cell phone. What freaks me out is having a conversation about something and then start seeing ads pop up?! o_0