# Are Americans less protected against spam and other unwanted advertising than Europeans?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-less-protected-against-spam-and-other-unwanted-advertising-than-europeans/840383>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 17, 2019, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-less-protected-against-spam-and-other-unwanted-advertising-than-europeans/840383 "2019-09-17T16:14:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\
**Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-less-protected-against-spam-and-other-unwanted-advertising-than-europeans/840383/1 "2019-09-17T16:14:22Z")

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This thought was triggered by [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=882196), and I have noticed several others from American based Dopers complaining about similar problems.

I use W10 and Hotmail, and although I do get some spam, it rarely amounts to more than three or four ads for pharmaceuticals and ‘young’ ladies offering unspecified services daily.

Since I do sometimes visit what might be seen as ‘risky’ (maybe risqué too) sites and only have the free version of AVG to shield me, I might have expected more on the basis of what I see here

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**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\
**Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-less-protected-against-spam-and-other-unwanted-advertising-than-europeans/840383/2 "2019-09-17T16:29:39Z")

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I use Gmail, and while I do get spam, it only occasionally slips through to my inbox. I usually delete the contents of my spam folder without looking at it.

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**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\
**Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-less-protected-against-spam-and-other-unwanted-advertising-than-europeans/840383/3 "2019-09-17T16:35:48Z")

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I should have been more specific. The spam I refer to above is in my ‘spam’ folder and gets deleted mostly unseen. In my email folder proper, I probably get two or three a month.

I do like to check the spam folder as it sometimes happens that a legitimate and wanted email gets diverted there.

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**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\
**Post date:** [September 18, 2019, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-less-protected-against-spam-and-other-unwanted-advertising-than-europeans/840383/4 "2019-09-18T02:30:08Z")

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There’s at most only a weak link between what websites you visit and how much spam you get. Spam is largely a function of how often you’ve signed up for email newsletters, contests, and so forth; how much online shopping you do, and where; as well as how often those lists get sold.

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**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\
**Post date:** [September 18, 2019, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-less-protected-against-spam-and-other-unwanted-advertising-than-europeans/840383/5 "2019-09-18T04:12:35Z")

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> [@bob\_2](#):
>
> This thought was triggered by [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=882196), and I have noticed several others from American based Dopers complaining about similar problems.
> 
> I use W10 and Hotmail, and although I do get some spam, it rarely amounts to more than three or four ads for pharmaceuticals and ‘young’ ladies offering unspecified services daily.

Well, this American doesn’t get anywhere near that much. Maybe three or four times per _month_ I’ll notice my spam folder has an email in it.

I use Gmail.