‘They’re watching, listening to us’: Reactions as man shares experience after buying Barbie doll

Some social media users have insisted there is a possibility that people are being watched, and their conversations may not be as private as they think. 

The suggestions were made after a Nigerian author, Kalu Aja, lamented on Twitter that he had been receiving unsolicited messages after buying a Barbie doll on Amazon.

According to him, Amazon now sends him unsolicited information on a Barbie gift set at 33 per cent off for Prime Day Shopping. He further revealed that even Facebook now tells him where to buy Barbie dolls on their marketplace.

He said the privacy policy on most online platforms is a hoax. He advised that users protect their data privacy by changing passwords, 2-factor identification, installing antivirus, not clicking links, freezing credit reports, and using credit cards online, not debit. According to him, credit cards are easier to dispute, and they won’t get shut down.

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“Bought a Barbie doll online Now Amazon sent me offers to buy Barbie gift set at 33% off for Prime Day Shopping Facebook is telling me where I can buy Barbie dolls on their marketplace. See that data privacy thing? Fogerrtabouuit your data will be sold. Just protect yourself 1. Password, change when you change tootbrush 2. 2 factor identification 3. Install antivirus 4. Don’t click links 5. Freeze your credit report 6. Use credit card online, not debit. Credit cards easier to dispute and it won’t get shut down Any other tips?” He tweeted.

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Bought a Barbie doll online

Now Amazon sent me offers to buy Barbie gift set at 33% off for Prime Day Shopping

Facebook is telling me where I can buy Barbie dolls on their marketplace.

See that data privacy thing? Fogerrtabouuit your data will be sold.

Just protect yourself…

— Kalu Aja (@FinPlanKaluAja1) July 13, 2023

See reactions below:

@j_samdavid: “I was in West Africa IOT conference when a founder said he will sell data gathered on his platform and no one flinted lol.”

@lzexchange: “Nowadays I don’t stress on where I can buy some certain things, I just open Facebook, talk about it and next day the ads are all over.”

@jeremiadetunji: “And we are still at the beginning stage (1st quadrant) of it all.”

@FreedomOmon: “I was talking with someone about orthopedic bed. It started showing on my Facebook adverts. Seems they even listen to our daily conversation.”

@Archiologist: “I just feel my phone is listening to me. I was talking about vacation a few days ago, since that day, Instagram just keep showing me vacation adverts 😂😂😂😂. I’m tired 😩”

@LEXYtee_mark: “At least you ordered something before they bombarded you with ads.. I only talked about buying tiles. Since that day, na tiles ads I’ve been getting on fb per seconds. What did I do next? I went to settings nd denied microphone permission.”

@FataiAdeyemo: “This have nothing to do with data privacy because they will still sell your information. Your cookies and Browser is what you should check on.”

@odesiuz: “None of this has anything to do with data being sold. Not even any of the tip here will help. A way you can try to reduce it is by changing your ADID (android) or IDFA (iPhone) which is 99.9% of the time never done (even though you can change it on all phones).”

@odesiuz: “None of this has anything to do with data being sold. Not even any of the tip here will help. A way you can try to reduce it is by changing your ADID (android) or IDFA (iPhone) which is 99.9% of the time never done (even though you can change it on all phones).”

@UchennaNwekpa: “That is what the cookie thing is all about. People accept freely for want of time to read to understand what they are really giving permission to. If you can just decline it je je li and keep your privacy.”

@teckaholic: “Lol. None of these suggestions would stop the Barbie doll situation. Also, those big guys aren’t the ones selling things like passwords/sensitive financial data. This is more search/site history, keywords, patterns, habits, time spent doing X…more nuanced stuff sir.”