# SDMB ads that responded to my personal information **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [December 6, 2010, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-ads-that-responded-to-my-personal-information/563187 "2010-12-06T19:49:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-ads-that-responded-to-my-personal-information/563187/1 "2010-12-06T19:49:32Z")
I live in a small city that no one on the dope knows about, yet I get an ad on a SDMB page that tells me 35 people in my little city are eligible for some promotion and that I should check it out. Thankyou Ed for sharing my information with others :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-ads-that-responded-to-my-personal-information/563187/2 "2010-12-06T20:16:19Z")
Your IP address gave you away. It wasn’t Ed. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-ads-that-responded-to-my-personal-information/563187/3 "2010-12-06T20:40:38Z")
Just think about this for a moment: If nobody on the Dope knows about your city, then how could they have possibly sold that information? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-ads-that-responded-to-my-personal-information/563187/4 "2010-12-06T20:48:56Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Just think about this for a moment: If nobody on the Dope knows about your city, then how could they have possibly sold that information? From his location information, **The Flying Dutchman** lives in or near [Campbell River, B.C.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campbell_River,_British_Columbia). However, I don’t think the advertisers have deduced it that way: they would have used his IP address. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-ads-that-responded-to-my-personal-information/563187/5 "2010-12-06T21:30:51Z")
Man, I go to all that trouble to [preserve your record of never ever being wrong](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=13213676&postcount=134) and you go and start this thread? How am I supposed to rescue you from this?? ---
**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:** [December 6, 2010, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-ads-that-responded-to-my-personal-information/563187/6 "2010-12-06T21:43:56Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > Man, I go to all that trouble to [preserve your record of never ever being wrong](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=13213676&postcount=134) and you go and start this thread? > > How am I supposed to rescue you from this?? I’m pretty sure “The Flying Dutchman” that started this thread was wearing a goatee, and we all know what _that_ means. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-ads-that-responded-to-my-personal-information/563187/7 "2010-12-06T21:48:28Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I’m pretty sure “The Flying Dutchman” that started this thread was wearing a goatee, and we all know what _that_ means. I hope it means we get the smoking hot, leather clad dominatrix Kira, instead of the also hot in an entirely different way, normal Kira. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-ads-that-responded-to-my-personal-information/563187/8 "2010-12-06T22:07:04Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > I hope it means we get the smoking hot, leather clad dominatrix Kira, instead of the also hot in an entirely different way, normal Kira. No it means you get Smiles instead of Julian. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-ads-that-responded-to-my-personal-information/563187/9 "2010-12-06T22:27:52Z")
> [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > I live in a small city that no one on the dope knows about, yet I get an ad on a SDMB page that tells me 35 people in my little city are eligible for some promotion and that I should check it out. > > Thankyou Ed for sharing my information with others :rolleyes: Just for the record, the [Registration Agreement](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/faq.php?faq=vb3_board_faq#faq_sdmb_rules) for the SDMB says: > [@Registration Agreement](#): > > We log your Internet address (IP number) each time you post. The IP number tells us your Internet service provider. We reserve the right to reveal the IP numbers and e-mail address (but no other confidential information) of chronic SDMB rule violators to other bulletin board operators. We do this to identify guests registering under multiple screen names. One of our third-party advertising providers, Google, uses IP numbers to customize ads served up to SDMB users. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-ads-that-responded-to-my-personal-information/563187/10 "2010-12-06T23:07:47Z")
I wonder whether the OP joined the internet just last week or something. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-ads-that-responded-to-my-personal-information/563187/11 "2010-12-06T23:22:07Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > I wonder whether the OP joined the internet just last week or something. I am a babe in the woods when it comes to these issues. I’m also a babe when it comes to spam, trojans and viruses. Doesn’t change the fact that when I choose to speak to Czarcasm, that I have to share my intimate details that presumably are withheld from him but not from corporate interests. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-ads-that-responded-to-my-personal-information/563187/12 "2010-12-06T23:28:31Z")
Dude, every single time you open a website, you share your location with that site. How do you think that information from the web knows which computer to go to when you click on a link? Your IP address is exactly that—an address. It distinguishes your computer or internet connection from every other internet connection in the world, making sure that you don’t receive your neighbor’s manga porn and he doesn’t get your confirmation for a Depends order. If the website at the other end of your connection didn’t have your IP address, you couldn’t read the website. Furthermore, because simply allocating numbers randomly is somewhat inefficient, different countries, and different regions within those countries, get different IP address ranges. That’s why, on some sites i visit, the site itself appears to know i’m in San Diego, even though i’ve never communicated with that site before. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-ads-that-responded-to-my-personal-information/563187/13 "2010-12-06T23:35:35Z")
By the way, **Flying Dutchman** , you should know that a local mom in _Campbell River_ is not making $542 a day using the internet, and all the \*Campbell River \*hotties who want to do the nasty in the personals website ads are not really from there either. The sites are just plugging in your IP address and pasting in a town local to that address. Just thought I’d save you trouble and heartache.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-ads-that-responded-to-my-personal-information/563187/14 "2010-12-07T04:21:39Z")
I thought it was weird that the local mom in Victoria, BC who discovered the secret of losing belly fat and brightening my smile sans dentist magically moved from city to city, depending on where I was. Thought the bitch was stalking me. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-ads-that-responded-to-my-personal-information/563187/15 "2010-12-07T06:36:39Z")
> [@Savannah](#): > > Thought the bitch was stalking me. Don’t worry about it, she stalks everybody. Funny thing, though, right now she’s in the next county over from me, but she thinks she’s in my town. Stupid bitch… ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-ads-that-responded-to-my-personal-information/563187/16 "2010-12-07T08:22:42Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > Don’t worry about it, she stalks everybody. Funny thing, though, right now she’s in the next county over from me, but she thinks she’s in my town. Stupid bitch… I used to have that–but my ISP must’ve fixed the reference. The same IP that used to get me reported as being in “Hillbillington” now correctly identifies me as living in “Hicksville.” ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-ads-that-responded-to-my-personal-information/563187/17 "2010-12-07T16:50:01Z")
> [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > I live in a small city that no one on the dope knows about, yet I get an ad on a SDMB page that tells me 35 people in my little city are eligible for some promotion and that I should check it out. > > Thankyou Ed for sharing my information with others :rolleyes: As others have mentioned, the ads are just checking your IP address, which you provide to every site you visit. Take a look at this [site](http://whatismyipaddress.com/). Everything it tells you it determined simply by looking up your IP address. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-ads-that-responded-to-my-personal-information/563187/18 "2010-12-07T18:55:47Z")
> [@Canadjun](#): > > As others have mentioned, the ads are just checking your IP address, which you provide to every site you visit. Take a look at this [site](http://whatismyipaddress.com/). Everything it tells you it determined simply by looking up your IP address. Hee. That’s good for a laugh. I got the message, in red, “Suspected Network Sharing Device”. Really? What gave us away? The 6000 people all coming through that address? (It’s a corporate network.) ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-ads-that-responded-to-my-personal-information/563187/19 "2010-12-07T19:47:32Z")
> [@Canadjun](#): > > As others have mentioned, the ads are just checking your IP address, which you provide to every site you visit. Take a look at this [site](http://whatismyipaddress.com/). Everything it tells you it determined simply by looking up your IP address. OHMIGOD! It knows everything about me! Just chip me and get it over with already. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-ads-that-responded-to-my-personal-information/563187/20 "2010-12-07T19:50:41Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > Man, I go to all that trouble to [preserve your record of never ever being wrong](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=13213676&postcount=134) and you go and start this thread? > > How am I supposed to rescue you from this?? Its all your fault. I got a little too cocky after that. 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-ads-that-responded-to-my-personal-information/563187.md?page=2)