# Confirm Or deny rumor on the Internet, please? (Do web ads all contain spyware?) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 31, 2026, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confirm-or-deny-rumor-on-the-internet-please-do-web-ads-all-contain-spyware/1032706 "2026-08-31T00:21:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2026, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confirm-or-deny-rumor-on-the-internet-please-do-web-ads-all-contain-spyware/1032706/1 "2026-08-31T00:21:41Z")
The Rumor–that some, or all, web ads now contain spyware to monitor you, put there by law enforcement at the Federal, State or Local level. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2026, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confirm-or-deny-rumor-on-the-internet-please-do-web-ads-all-contain-spyware/1032706/2 "2026-08-31T00:28:05Z")
I don’t believe it’s true, and have never seen evidence to the contrary. Plus, it would be really hard to do without it being obvious. ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2026, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confirm-or-deny-rumor-on-the-internet-please-do-web-ads-all-contain-spyware/1032706/3 "2026-08-31T00:28:21Z")
How is anyone going to disprove something like that? ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2026, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confirm-or-deny-rumor-on-the-internet-please-do-web-ads-all-contain-spyware/1032706/4 "2026-08-31T00:54:20Z")
> [@Common\_Tater](#): > > How is anyone going to disprove something like that Or prove it, for that matter? ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2026, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confirm-or-deny-rumor-on-the-internet-please-do-web-ads-all-contain-spyware/1032706/5 "2026-08-31T01:12:51Z")
Is there some regulation preventing The Man from monitoring you with spyware the same way each and every first-, second-, and third-rate corporation does? Above and beyond all the [illegal government wiretaps](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_641A) ---
**Author:** ![UDS1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47774/32.png) [@UDS1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS1)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2026, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confirm-or-deny-rumor-on-the-internet-please-do-web-ads-all-contain-spyware/1032706/6 "2026-08-31T01:53:29Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Is there some regulation preventing The Man from monitoring you with spyware Let’s assume there isn’t. Why would web ads, in particular, be the vehicle for installing this spyware? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2026, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confirm-or-deny-rumor-on-the-internet-please-do-web-ads-all-contain-spyware/1032706/7 "2026-08-31T02:22:51Z")
I don’t think I have seen this rumor much. Where is it prominent? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2026, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confirm-or-deny-rumor-on-the-internet-please-do-web-ads-all-contain-spyware/1032706/8 "2026-08-31T04:03:32Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > put there by law enforcement at the Federal, State or Local level. Sounds like conspiracy theory BS to me. Where did you hear this? Web ads frequently use tracking cookies, but those are put there by greedy companies trying to increase profits by tracking everything you do and targeting ads specifically at you. As far as I am aware, the government, where it be local, national, or anywhere in between, is not involved, unless you are accessing a government website, in which case the government will place tracking cookies on your device. That said, if the government, or local law enforcement, thinks that you are up to no good, or have done something bad, they can use subpoenas and warrants to get tracking information from companies that like to track your every move as much as possible (like Google). So while the cookies may have been placed there for purely greed-motivated reasons, the government and law enforcement can use them against you, if they have cause to do so. In some cases, they don’t even need a warrant. You can thank the Patriot Act for that one. But again, to be clear, it’s not ALL web ads that use cookies. Quite a few do, but not all. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2026, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confirm-or-deny-rumor-on-the-internet-please-do-web-ads-all-contain-spyware/1032706/9 "2026-08-31T04:26:43Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > Or prove it, for that matter? Proving it would be very easy. This is software not magic. There are plenty of very sophisticated non governmental labs that exist to identify and publicize this kind of thing, if they were to discover a widespread spyware in in Internet ads they would publish an in-depth report into it, for everyone to see (having given the manufacturers a suitable time to correct the vulnerability that allowed it to work) Disproving it is of course impossible, as its “proving a negative”. The fact none of those labs have found anything like that isn’t proof that it doesn’t exist. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2026, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confirm-or-deny-rumor-on-the-internet-please-do-web-ads-all-contain-spyware/1032706/10 "2026-08-31T04:31:38Z")
I think the “kernel of truth” to this was probably the [Pegasus spyware](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pegasus_(spyware)) that was indeed used by governments to spy on their citizens, and did completely take over its victims phones and all allow them to be tracked, and was spread by webpages. But it was a tightly targeted not just spread to anyone who saw a banner ad. Presumably the successors to Pegasus are out there, but they probably aren’t being spread to anyone who opens a page with a banner ad. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2026, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confirm-or-deny-rumor-on-the-internet-please-do-web-ads-all-contain-spyware/1032706/11 "2026-08-31T04:55:56Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > Sounds like conspiracy theory BS to me. Where did you hear this? > > Web ads frequently use tracking cookies, but those are put there by greedy companies trying to increase profits by tracking everything you do and targeting ads specifically at you. As far as I am aware, the government, where it be local, national, or anywhere in between, is not involved, unless you are accessing a government website, in which case the government will place tracking cookies on your device. Good post. Yeah the Government does not need “spyware” from Wed ads. They have their own, which has to be aimed as a suspect. The NSA is allowed to comb stuff for code words, but not look at every email, etc. Besides- about 290 MILLION Americans use the Internet daily. Monitoring just one suspect 24/7 takes a team. There aint enough government employees to do this. > [@DPRK](#): > > Above and beyond all the [illegal government wiretaps](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_641A) If you read your cite, they were not actually illegal. > [@griffin1977](#): > > Proving it would be very easy. Even easier than that. Find a case where the government used evidence that was achieved through these means. For example, yes the NSA can comb emails looking for keywords- that is now legal. BUT they _can not use that spying for evidence in a criminal proceeding, since there is no warrant._ ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2026, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confirm-or-deny-rumor-on-the-internet-please-do-web-ads-all-contain-spyware/1032706/12 "2026-08-31T05:16:00Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > That said, if the government, or local law enforcement, thinks that you are up to no good, or have done something bad, they can use subpoenas and warrants to get tracking information from companies that like to track your every move as much as possible (like Google). They don’t need warrants or subpoenas for this, they just need cash. Ad data is commercially traded, and there are services, such as [Fog Reveal](https://www.fogdatascience.com/), that sell this information directly to law enforcement. So there isn’t any ‘government spyware’ in ads, but there’s also no need for that—anybody who has ad sharing enabled on their phone is issued a unique Ad ID, and any geolocation data can then be used to track the movement of that ID. That ID isn’t directly connected to a person, but if you can link the person and the ID to a particular location at a given time, you can build up confidence regarding that association. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2026, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confirm-or-deny-rumor-on-the-internet-please-do-web-ads-all-contain-spyware/1032706/13 "2026-08-31T06:57:47Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I don’t think I have seen this rumor much. **Where is it prominent?** Good question. Whenever conspiracy theories come up, usually the most interesting aspect is not the conspiracy itself. The interesting thing is who believes it, who spreads it, and why. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2026, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confirm-or-deny-rumor-on-the-internet-please-do-web-ads-all-contain-spyware/1032706/14 "2026-08-31T11:58:30Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > There aint enough government employees to do this. This. Think about your internet time, where you go and what you do. Think about people who spend more time on line than you do. Think about how many websites and emails there are out there. Even if there was enough computing power to track it all and weed out the inane, you still need people to comb thru the filtered results for significant proof of… whatever… This in addition to legitimate tracking of the known bad guys and analyzing potential evil being planned by bad guys. Not to mention not having any one of those government employees leaking the nefarious monitoring. Believe it or not, there are some who have consciences and don’t think tracking all fellow citizens is legal. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2026, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confirm-or-deny-rumor-on-the-internet-please-do-web-ads-all-contain-spyware/1032706/15 "2026-08-31T12:06:35Z")
Likely BS, as it came from YouTube accounts. I consider this constructively answered. My thanks. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2026, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confirm-or-deny-rumor-on-the-internet-please-do-web-ads-all-contain-spyware/1032706/16 "2026-08-31T18:29:56Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > This. Think about your internet time, where you go and what you do. Think about people who spend more time on line than you do. Think about how many websites and emails there are out there. Even if there was enough computing power to track it all and weed out the inane, you still need people to comb thru the filtered results for significant proof of… whatever… Good points. > [@FairyChatMom](#): > > Not to mention not having any one of those government employees leaking the nefarious monitoring. Believe it or not, there are some who have consciences and don’t think tracking all fellow citizens is legal. Right.