How I tracked myself down using leaked location data in the in-app ads, and what I found along the way.
    • Rimu@piefed.socialEnglish
      19·
      2 days ago

      I have zero social media apps or games on my phone but my pihole is still getting a hell of a workout. This is nuts.

      • SayCyberOnceMore@feddit.ukEnglish
        16·
        2 days ago

        Also consider outside your home too - either permantly VPNing back through your home network, or (ie for Android) Tracker Control, which will block most ad / sdk / geo trackers that it knows about.

      • Rimu@piefed.socialEnglish
        9·
        2 days ago

        The Pi-Hole itself is very straightforward if you’re cool with using docker - the example docker-compose.yaml on Docker Hub just worked for me. But getting your devices to use the Pi-Hole instead of their usual DNS server can be harder than it should be.

        • LoudWaterHombre@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
          2·
          2 days ago

          Nah mate, if you set your PiHole to be the DHCP of your network, it will force DNS server settings onto the devices it’s handing out IPs to. Just set the PiHole as DHCP server in your router and it’ll be fine.

          • Randelung@lemmy.worldEnglish
            2·
            11 hours ago

            Getting DNS and DHCP mixed up here.

            DNS you set in your DHCP, DHCP you either disable or enable.

            Set the PiHole as DNS on your router or disable DHCP on the router altogether and enable it on the Pi. The former is simpler.

    • Random_Character_A@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      2 days ago

      I had to put my pihole on a brake for a while. I had it installed on a raspberry pi 3 and it destroyed 2 SD cards in a month. Now it just runs piVPN and all is well.

      Gonna reinstall next time I get a newer raspberry.

      • r0ertel@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        10 hours ago

        Check out the overlay filesystem. I’m using it for one pi and have had the same SD card for years. I don’t know if it’ll work for pinole, but may get you thinking in a new direction.

      • raldone01@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        2 days ago

        I just learned that san disk has a 10 year warranty. Today I made a claim for a 5 year old sdcard. Maybe worth a shot. (Just check with ypur manufacturer.)

  • fmstrat@lemmy.nowsci.comEnglish
    9·
    2 days ago

    And I just remembered I’m not running NextDNS or PiHole on this phone.

    I wonder if Android is as lax as iOS on the cross-app sharing.

  • AsunasPersonalAsst@lemmy.worldEnglish
    161·
    2 days ago

    Does turning off wifi, force stopping apps, clearing cache, and using a privacy friendly browser work? I been doing that for years and I don’t see any intrusive/malicious/super specific targeted ads, heck, ads had been minimal and only appear while I use apps.

      • DJDarrenEnglish
        1·
        14 hours ago

        Took delivery of a Pixel 9 last Thursday after 16 years of iPhones. Within an hour of delivery I had it on Graphene and after a few days of VEEEEERY steep learning curve I’m really enjoying using it.

        I have absolutely no idea how any of the sandboxing stuff works, and could stand to have fewer notifications warning me what the system is doing, but overall it’s pretty straightforward.

    • Zak@lemmy.worldEnglish
      6·
      2 days ago

      Preferring websites to apps when possible makes this approach more effective. If you use apps with ads in them, they will likely get sensitive information as described in the article.

      System wide ad blocking helps more. Private DNS is the easiest way; Mullvad provides a free option.

    • Rimu@piefed.socialEnglish
      19·
      2 days ago

      No.

      The article is about your location being tracked, not about ads

  • tomyhaw@lemmy.worldEnglish
    5·
    2 days ago

    The Facebook tracking when not installed on the iphone is strange as I thought only android is pre installed in the background not iOS.